Dear Diary: Relena's Story 'remixed'
by mirroredsakura
Summary: On February 14, AC 198, Heero Yuy opens his door to find Duo and Hilde out in the hallway. They present him with Relena Peacecraft Darlian's diary, and leave him to plot out what he'll do with its invaluable unformation, after suggesting a date.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Dear Diary

**Author:** mirroredsakura

**Notes:** This fic was started several years ago, initially meant to be one-shot and left at that. But as I have a severe case of 'plotbunny susceptivity' and can't write short for the life of me, here you are. It has already been rewritten once, but as I am incapable of letting dead horses lie, I simply have to go back and go through it again. Hopefully this way will make it a bit more palatable for reader consumption.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Wing in any way shape or form. Not many people who own rights to things will post on fanfiction sites.

**Also: **It has come to my attention in past versions of this fic that I have related the Sally/Wufei journal entry to Nightheart's _The Phoenix and the Dragon_. I've since gone back to read it and remember that I had indeed read it before. Nightheart has since been mailed, and I've since received her permission to reference her story. Truthfully speaking, this was originally meant to be the first part of an entire series, where I would have written my own. But several years have passed and I haven't even released the parts I've written of the second book anywhere. At any rate, this fic is perfectly capable of standing on its own until I decide for sure whether or not I wish to continue Dorothy's saga.

**And again: **I know it is not quite reasonable to expect great changes within a year of peace—but first of all, there had been a time of albeit false peace that he allowed himself to indulge in. I would hope time like that would force him to consider what he'd want to do with his life and how he'd want to be. That and the fact that I had nearly enough trouble dreaming up a year's worth of diary entries. I refuse to do it for more. And since most crucial events happen during that year of change, I didn't want to skip ahead to even more fabrications.

**Chapter One**

"Happy birthday, Heero."

He stared down at the petite form of Hilde Shiebecker standing in the quiet hallway outside the door of his apartment with a slight frown on his lips—his version of expressing confusion. The little pixie of a woman was holding out a rather worn-out leather-bound book—a simple thing slightly gilded at the edges with a white rose adorning the cover—to his face. He could see Duo leaning against the opposite wall of the hallway, and he briefly wondered what kind of stupid joke the notorious young prankster couple was up to. But the look on Hilde's face was completely earnest, there wasn't even a hint of suppressed amusement in her eyes as he eyed the book gingerly, waiting for a rubber snake to pop out or… or… it was beyond him to think at the level of his longtime friend.

"It's not my birthday…" he said finally, sounding a little uncertain as he eyed the two of them.

Duo was pleasantly surprised to note it. Peace had softened the razor-hard lines of Heero Yuy's persona; eighteen years looked better on him than the original fifteen when he'd first met him, and if he wasn't overwhelmingly happy over his new lot in life, he seemed quietly… content. He smiled. He quite preferred this new Heero to the silent stoicism he remembered. And if anything else, he might be a bit more willing to go along with their plans. Although he sincerely hoped that the year of peace since the events of Mariemaia's attempted revolution hadn't dulled his friend's lightning reading processes.

Still, he let his amusement show in a drawl, "Oh damn, that's an answer for the books, Hilde babe. The cutting glare, the wit! I am well and truly mollified!"

Hilde, with what looked like the ease of long practice, ignored her braided _baka_ of a boyfriend and continued to brandish the book in Heero's face. "Take." she told him firmly with the voice of authority, and the ex-gundam pilot who had blown up several million mobile suits over the course of his career took it almost as meekly as her boyfriend might when he was faced with her wrath and her ability to deny him sex.

She cut right to the point. "Now exactly how fast a reader are you, Heero Yuy?"

He eyed her strangely. "Why?"

"Just answer the question. Please." She tacked on the ending as if it were an afterthought.

"…Fast."

She smiled in gleeful satisfaction, the hints of the saber-toothed tiger disappearing back under the veneer of the cheeky pixie. "Good! I thought so. Duo honey, why don't you explain?"

Duo peeled himself off the wall and came forward, looking perfectly casual with his hands slipped into the front pockets of his black jeans. "Today's Valentine's Day, you know."

Heero eyed him carefully, a vague suspicion that Duo might try to force him to go to a strip joint of some level of vulgarity in order to keep him from whiling the day away in solitude. But no, he wouldn't bring his girlfriend along if that were the case, would he?

Knowing the two of them, he couldn't exactly be sure.

"Well originally we _were_ thinking how a certain young lady of our mutual acquaintance would benefit from finding you beribboned and gift-wrapped on her doorstep."

Heero didn't deign that with a response, although he _did_ raise a warning eyebrow. Duo rushed to continue although the look on his face clearly showed that he hadn't yet thought up exactly what he would be saying.

"Are you going to invite us in?" asked Hilde the moment she saw her boyfriend open his mouth. "I'm sure you don't want your neighbors to overhear our conversation—and we all know what a loud-mouth this loser can be," she added affectionately, jerking a thumb at her mate.

He paused before nodded once and stepped aside, allowing them through the doorway. Duo sauntered in, taking in the surroundings with a curious eye. Blue-walled, white-framed windows, a small kitchenette in one corner and several other closed doors, presumably to a bed and bathroom. It was simple and slightly austere as only Heero could manage it, and yet the set of leather couches nestled next to the large-screen vid-screen indicated that the retired boy soldier had not been hurting for funds in the past year or so.

Heero waited just long enough for them to settle down on the couches, even going so far as to fill the kettle and set it on the stove in order to make tea, before he sat himself down on the couch opposite the two on the loveseat. "Now explain this to me, please." he finally said bluntly, holding up the small book.

Hilde decided to do the explaining as she cast a nervous look at her boyfriend, not especially keen on Heero losing his temper and tying the boy's tongue around his head. "Well… since we decided Duo's original idea wouldn't be the… brightest thing to do…" she cast a warning glance at Duo as she said so, effectively keeping him from on blurting out whatever defensive remark he might make. "And so, we thought up Plan B. And that would be that wonderfully inconspicuous little book in your hand." She beamed proudly.

He looked down at it without a change in expression. "What is it?"

Duo raised an eyebrow and drawled, "Always right to the point, aren't you?"

"I merely want to make sure of its contents before I find myself covered in confetti or fake blood or… God knows what else."

There was a pause before Hilde muttered sideways to her boyfriend, "He knows you too damn well sometimes…" before she shook her head. "It's not a joke, we're not here to play a simple prank on you. Frankly, there are easier ways to go about it without traveling all the way to L1. That book right there is Relena Peacecraft Darlian's private diary."

If Heero had been the type to gape, then would most certainly have been the time. "How the hell did you manage to take this from right underneath her nose?" he asked in what almost approached awe.

Duo blinked. "Does that mean you've tried it."

Heero shrugged. "No. But I've had to commandeer her schedule planner when I worked for that section of Preventers, and I found that difficult enough. I figured if she cared so much about her schedule, she'd have taken even more appropriate measures to ensure that it's left unread… if she even kept a diary in the first place."

The other boy rolled his eyes, "C'mon Heero—the girl's as old-fashioned as they come. Before she met you her life was all high-society horses and girlfriends and parties and dancing. Of _course_ she would have a diary."

"I'm still going to ask you how you managed to come by this."

Hilde grinned. "I'm a girl!" She beamed as if this was one of the greatest accomplishments known to man.

Heero frowned, "And I'm a guy. Do try and explain better than that, please." He got up then and walked into the kitchenette section where the kettle had begun to sing and silently began making a pot of tea.

The girl frowned, her little moment of glory lost on the L1 native. "It should, if you're as deductive as everyone says you are."

"I was a soldier, not Sherlock Holmes."

"…From your reputation, I think you're just being modest. Anyway, since I'm a girl, it's easy to find my way into her room during one of our infamous girl chats. It was rather easy… admittedly, she's still a little on the trusting side, but she didn't hide it _at all_. I was hoping for at least a mousetrap to get around, but she just leaves it there in the top drawer of her desk. So I swiped it. Figured you might be able to do something with it."

"Why would I?"

"Well… because…" Hilde fell silent.

Duo took up the flow of words in her stead, looking rather serious, even as he accepted the silently proffered cup of tea with thanks, "C'mon Heero—think of the things we've been through together. You like her, even if you don't love her, so for just this once, we thought we might try to convince you to try and do something nice for her."

"What can I do? You two are the ones who throw the big parties, not me."

Hilde wrinkled her nose. "A party for Relena on Valentine's Day? When she's all by herself? Yuy, I love the little darling, and showcasing that beyond a doubt is not something I'm willing to do for the poor girl's heart. She'd be internally miserable."

Heero couldn't disagree with that. He'd seen it often enough, how she could be hurting under the most brilliant smile.

Duo stood up, setting his empty cup on the saucer with a small clatter, "Just read the book, won't you Heero? Whatever you decide to do next is your own business. We just wanted to give you, and ultimately her, a chance, y'know?"

"Releana Darlian is still on Earth," he said finally, "Even if I wanted to, it'd be impossible to see her today."

Hilde grinned mischievously. "Not a chance—she's got an important meeting tomorrow right here on L1 and she was encouraged to go a day early…"

"I wouldn't be wrong if I suspected you might've had something to do with this?"

"Forcefully," she replied, sounding quite cheerful about it.

The two of them left at an unhurried pace. Hilde, at the door, gave Heero a huge smile. "Happy Valentine's Day, Heero!" Then she and Duo both leaned over and planted a kiss on a corner of his mouth before promptly running off down the hall, laughing merrily.

And Heero found he hadn't made the slightest effort to avoid them. He frowned. He had never been starved for human companionship.

…That was really the only reason he could think of to explain away the rather horrifying experience of being kissed by Duo Maxwell. He was _not _going to be recruited into any kind of threesome with that idiot and his girlfriend. He closed the door firmly, locking it as he always did, ascertained that it _was_ locked properly, before looking down at the book again.

It was her private property. He should respect her privacy.

And yet the thought of the young Vice Foreign Minister's face was his undoing. She had done so much for him over the years, most of which he had never fully acknowledged. Perhaps… perhaps for once Duo and his crazed chipmunk of a girlfriend were right…

He'd been in and out of Relena's life for so long… he could've missed so much, so many important things while he was trying to build up a life around his anonymity. This diary might be the only thing that would keep him from making a worse mistake than the assassination of a shuttle full of pacifist leaders. It was decided. He settled down into a comfortable position on the couch, stretching out his legs across it, and began to read.

In the relative safety of the lobby, Duo and Hide stood crowded over the small button cam they'd surreptitiously placed on Duo's teacup which he'd then placed on the kitchenette counter, which provided them with a decent view of the living room area. The moment he sat down and opened the book, Hilde let out a little squeal of excitement and the two of them began doing a victory dance in front of a startled security guard.

_February 21, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_And once again, I had to speak to the world leaders. When will this ever stop? It's like a revolving lantern, one of those old relics that spin and spin and the pictures inside go round and round again. Always the same scene, always the same faces looking at me as if my world is law. I feel as Julius Caesar might have once felt—the weight of the world is heavy on one's shoulders. And then there's the added respect and responsibility of the Colonies. What next? Invading alien killer bees? But I mustn't jinx myself._

_He left today, Diary. Yes, you know the one. My oh-so-deadly shadow. It's my guess he slipped out of the hospital as soon as he gained consciousness. I'm not surprised, truthfully—he'd have objected to the hospital had he been conscious. Silly boy, pushing himself to the point of exhaustion. But then, who am I to talk? And I suppose it is less suicidal than direct self-destruction of a space-suit, but there you are._

He raised an eyebrow. _Silly?_ He had been called many things over the course of his life, and _silly_ had never been one of them.

_It took all my willpower to keep from looking at him today. Oh, I knew he was there. Hiding in the wings, high up in the balconies that were once reserved for those of us now dead and buried. I don't know why, exactly. I just had this feeling, this sudden burst of mental clarity—if I'd looked at him, I wouldn't be able to lie. He'd know I wanted him to stay. And I don't know how I knew, but I knew he would. And I don't want to chain him, Diary. He has a life to live—perhaps the life I'll never be allowed to live. This connection, this feeling of _knowing, _this sudden burst of empathy, I have with him isn't just some girly teenaged fantasy that I can giggle about with Dorothy over fashion magazines and each other's toenails._

_Maybe he'll come back someday. I believe that. If not now, if not to me, I'll still see him someday. But I won't go Heero-hunting any longer. Now it's his turn to come to me._

_Relena__Darlian_

'_Relena_ _Darlian'_, he thought. _So she really _has _given up the title of the last remaining Peacecraft princess…_ _and all the idealized visions for the world with it._ Then he reread the last line and felt his cheeks flush just the slightest. She was so… so _certain_. She'd _known_ since the day he left that he would never be able step far enough away from her to stop thinking about her.

He'd originally tried to ease this silence inside him by taking an undercover position in Preventers that tracked and recorded her whereabouts, but never needed to come in contact with her. He'd left once he realized this was little different from his earlier occupation, and decided to switch out. He'd moved to L1, and decided to pursue a University degree of some sort, all for the sake of change. And yet… she was never too far away. A woman would walk past wearing her perfume; a little girl would run past with that wheat-blonde hair and her old braids; he would catch glimpses of her on the television when he bothered to turn it on…

All along, she'd _known_. And somehow… despite all his convictions, deep down, he'd always known too. He frowned, looking back down at the diary in his hands, unwilling to contemplate his sudden revelation.

_February 26, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_Trowa_ _came to visit today—his sister came too. This is the same Cathrine Bloom I've heard so much about. I found out she and the rest of the circus troupe were on the same colony that Dekim Barton had threatened to drop onto Earth. It was because of them that I was able to be filled in on some of the specifics of the original Operation Meteor and the real Trowa Barton. I don't exactly know why they'd decide to come forward with this kind of information for me, especially when it would've been so simple to give through a third-party. After all, we've never been close—I'd hardly even_ known _Trowa, except for a halted mobile suit battle or two._

_I think it was Cathrine's idea, really. She was so excited to be meeting "all her Trowa's friends," and he just stood there in tolerable silence looking as… as content? as I could ever imagine him._

_Cathrine_ _is a lovely woman—and I don't merely mean physically. She's a little overprotective of Trowa—one of the maids seemed to be trying to flirt with her brother and she seemed to go deadly quiet. Poor Merry actually managed to scuttle out of the room with a butter knife lodged in her cap—Cathrine seems to have "accidentally" let go of it in such a peculiar fashion that its blunted tip managed to penetrate a full inch or two through starched linen. An impressive feat, I must say._

_Another thing I've learned about the Silent One (name trademarked to Duo Maxwell) is that he has a girlfriend._

Heero blinked, staring down at the words on the page. Trowa… had a girlfriend? _Not even two months after the Christmas incident, and he's already gotten a girlfriend?_ He went back to reading the small, neat words on the page, determined to uncover the mystery of the Heavyarms ex-pilot.

_I haven't met her, she didn't come with the two of them, but Cathrine nagged Trowa enough for him to show me a picture of her. She's pretty… platinum blonde hair that could rival Quatre's or even Dorothy's, big blue eyes… Her name's Midii Une, he finally revealed. She was smiling in the picture, but… I don't know. Maybe it's her eyes… she just looks so… sad. Trowa said something about meeting her when he was ten… They apparently lost contact for the next six years and then… I don't know. He didn't tell me how he found her, or how she found him._

_Romeo is back and he's lying sprawled on my bed and luxuriating in my pillows as if he owns it. Lovah just tumbled off one of them and she's currently nothing more than a sleepily mewling golden lump. Time for me to go, it seems._

_Relena__Darlian_

The mention of Romeo conjured up images of the giant sheepdog with the wildly inaccurate (or so he thought) name. He'd always considered the shaggy beast to be more of a Pagan than a Romeo. But he knew quite well how much a romantic Relena was. And it would have been a little insulting—whether to the dog or the butler, he wasn't entirely sure.

_March 8, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_Vacation! Oh you don't know how it's like to have the whole world live and breathe that word! I don't know who it was that pulled enough strings to allow me two weeks (_two weeks!_) of vacation, but whoever they are have my undying love and affection. Then again, when it comes to it, the only people who would are probably the ones who have my undying love and affection anyway! _

_But I must not get sidetracked. Quatre Winner has asked me to accompany him to Arabia. Dorothy is coming too, though I have a definite suspicion as to why. Our world works in strange ways—I cannot leave for two weeks with Quatre Winner, the world's most noted gentleman, on my own. I need at least one other as an escort, never mind that she's the same age as I am, and was a war-hungry wildcat in her time. Perhaps it's the title. The Duchess Catalonia perhaps might carry a lot more weight than The Multibillionaire Winner. One never knows._

_In any case, I also do believe the Ice Queen's grown fond of our resident Arabian. I'm not entirely sure why—I'd always though he was just a tad too angelic for her tastes. But when she sinks her claws into something (or someone) she means business. I'm not touching this one with a ten-foot pole. _

_Nonetheless, it was a chance for a small adventure! Of course I accepted. And so, despite all the cursedly beautiful golden sand that somehow seems to get in _everything_, the place is gorgeous. We landed in what I think was a small city in the middle of a desert. Quatre and his crew seemed so at home in the place—everyone knew them, down to the brightly-colored dancing girls in the continuous festivals. Even in the hot sun, we had such fun—I managed to tan, despite the precautions I'd taken. How both Dorothy and Quatre can manage in this heat and this sunlight and still stay so… so _pale_, is beyond me to comprehend._

_It was a lovely two weeks. They only new me as Quatre's guest, not as the Vice Foreign Minister Darlian, not the Peacecraft princess, nor even the Queen of the World. That's one of the best things I like about Arabia. I could revel in my anonymity._

_Relena__Dorlian_

From the way it sounded, it would probably have been Zechs and Noin who had arranged the entire thing, although he had a minor suspicion Dorothy had played not a small part in it too. He frowned at her words and the tone conveyed in them. Did Relena really hate her position so much? He'd wondered often at her for keeping the position when she so obviously longed to be free—and he'd originally come to the conclusion that she liked the spotlight. Later on, he'd realized that she stayed more out of responsibility. She had the power to make people listen to her—and so she took advantage of that, trying to convince them to make the world a better place.

Now he wondered if she was even going to be _able_ to drop the duties of Vice Foreign Minister, especially as one of the new representatives of the E.S.U.N.

_March 29, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_Sylvia Noventa has run away._

Heero's eyes widened as he stared down at the words on the page, Sylvia Noventa? Run? He'd never read of it before… he'd barely even seen of any lack of coverage for the girl in fact, at that time there had been more than enough articles on her resignation and subsequent settling-down in a remote area of Eurasia.

_Her grandmother was frantic, and strangely, the first person she went to was me, a teenaged politician she once knew way back when. She informed me well on the happenings of the girl, and I had to expend all my energies trying to calm her frazzled nerves. The strangest thing that happened however, was just this very night, Sylvia Noventa herself had appeared on my doorstep. She told me about how several friends had arranged for a normal life for her in Moscow, and that she was tired of the political niceties and nonsense that all politicians know._

_You know, I've long wondered how two girls, who have no relation to each other, can look so remarkably similar. The press has noticed this well enough, producing enough "which one is which?" articles for me to be able to wallpaper my dining room with them. She pleaded for me to use this to her advantage… she'd only had twenty minutes left before she had to go to the airport incognito. She begged me to play her part, to be Sylvia Noventa, for the next few weeks, at least to handle the issues of the press and the rest of the political world in her place. I tried to argue with her, telling her she could be strong, she could do this on her own, and that planes come and go on a regular schedule—that she could do all she asked of me on her own._

_Still, I ended up agreeing, after she promised to vid-phone her grandmother, assuring she was all right, and telling her of her—our plans. I do admit that when she left, I was jealous. All her problems about being a politician were gone, lifted off her shoulders… and thrown onto mine I suppose. Combined with the next few weeks of work I'll have to do for her, and also the work I need to do for myself… I foresee many long nights of coffee-induced working frenzy._

_Relena__Dorlian_

Heero sighed, finally realizing why Sylvia Noventa had so suddenly and spectacularly given up the political life. It had been Relena all those long weeks when the public and the press had been baffled by her sudden proclamations. Sylvia, in her own aspect, was as well known as Relena herself, and she'd been able to disappear _just like that_…

_April 15, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_There is no privacy in my life. None. All those people who think being rich and powerful (ha!) is enough to deserve being hounded by paparazzi should be burnt at the stake. Someone found out about something I wrote in a previous entry—you know, about Romeo? And took it the wrong way. Obviously the wrong way. They squealed, and would you know it, right there on the front cover is the headline in huge black type "17-year old Vice Foreign Minister's New Lover". Notice that they simply _had _to mention my age. And if you would like to know, right there is an enormous, high-quality image of myself, kissing the infamous Heero Yuy._

Heero's jerked, as he stared at the incriminating words. _When?_ he thought desperately, feeling the telltale signs of a blush spreading towards his cheeks. _The only time I've ever kissed her was… when…_ His eyes widened as he turned the page hurriedly, knowing with growing dread what he would find. And he found it, pasted to the page was the article, the large full-color picture of the two of them sharing their first (and only) kiss. _Who the hell took that?_ he thought with growing fury. _How dare they? And why hasn't anyone told me that this article had even been printed!_

He felt his face grow hot as stared down at the two of them there. As kisses went (and he'd had some time to acquaint himself with the procedure), it hadn't been much. They had both been young, and she'd been terrified for him, and he'd been desperate to keep her away and to keep her safe. It had been… damn it, it had been special. No one had any right to intrude.

He looked onto the next page where the same entry continued, written in Relena's neat printed writing—but this time, the press of her pen was harder on the paper and penned in a harsh slant that belied her anger.

_First, as I recall, Romeo and Lovah have been seen often enough in my company so there really should be no need to mistake Romeo for Heero Yuy. Come to that, there really should be no need to mistake Heero Yuy for anyone _but _Heero Yuy._

_The mistake was cleared up almost the instant the article came out, but the damage has been done, I suppose. It was a sleazy tabloid, which was well-known for the spreading of sordid and incorrect rumors, but I've never had cause to appear in such a thing before. And damn it, that moment had been special. I'll treasure the picture because it brings back such a wonderful memory, but to print it around the world? How _dare _they!_

_And _how _How, I still don't know. But I mean to find out somehow, even if it means dispatching a Preventer-licensed interrogator after that damned reporter._

_On the topic of Heero, I leard Duo literally went to L1 and cleared the place of the trashy magazine and cheerfully dumped them all in a disposal block filled with other miscellaneous junk and sent it flying into the sun. Simple, yet effective, I doubt Heero himself even knew of it. I think Duo suspected that if he ever did see it… well… we all know how much Heero values his privacy. This is not something he should know about, especially when it has all but blown over. _

_Relena__Darlian_

Duo had been able to keep such a huge secret from him. Duo. Heero shook his head, wondering if he should be praising the ex-pilot or berating himself. Was this peace genuinely dulling his razor-sharp edge? Puzzled with all these happenings outside his knowledge, he continued reading. He'd never considered himself nearly a hermit until now.

_April 21, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm not so sure I'm in any state to be writing this right now… but damn it, I can't think of anyway to get it out of my head, and I can't just keep it inside me. I'm sixteen, Diary. A little too young for marriage, especially in this day and age—and yet I found myself proposed to by one the admittedly richest, but downright idiotic men I have ever met. He's handsome, I daresay, but as pigheaded and egotistical as anything. He's also 46 years old. I tried to decline as politely as I could, but he continued to nod and smile infuriatingly, as if I were a child that didn't know any better, and therefore didn't have the privilege to decide. He fully intended to go to my mother, confident that she'd agree to the match._

_I'm not entirely sure that she wouldn't. She has not approved of my political career since the beginning. She would possibly be swayed by the thought of putting me in the hands of a very rich man with a very good name. Well. I told him simply and pointedly that he was old enough to be my father, and I wondered if he enjoyed robbing the cradle. He turned red in the face and began sputtering something—I wasn't entirely sure what, because Pagan came in then as calmly as anything, and led him out of the room as I started to laugh._

_I didn't laugh very long, Diary, oh I certainly didn't! He reappeared at my house again earlier tonight, in my bedroom, and I had no idea how he'd gotten there! And he tried to take me then, Diary. He threw me on the bed—my own bed!—and tore my blouse open. _

Heero stared, shocked, at the page. _Relena?_ _In such danger, and he never knew? _He suddenly remembered one night, sometime in April when he'd been sitting at his desk, scanning through files for something when he'd felt a racking fear hit him like a punch in the lungs. He'd literally fallen out of his chair as he scrabbled uselessly at the polished wood of his floor, in the face of this utterly debilitating fear, choking back a yell as he felt his throat constrict. He remembered staggering to his feet, searching frantically for the source of that fear—something he hadn't felt in _years_. _Could it have been…?_ He gritted his teeth, wondering why this hadn't hit the papers, hadn't been told to him. Duo would certainly had informed him, had he knew. This was something not even the hotheaded American could keep from doing something against.

_I was scared—so scared—and I was kicking him and trying to get him off me, and scratching at his face with my nails. But it didn't do anything, he was so heavy and he was on top of me, and I could barely move and and and—but I need to calm down. Lovah and Romeo saved me. That's right, my dogs. Lovah was in my rom when I started screaming, she began yipping (she's too young to howl yet) and raced towards the door. I didn't know why none of the servants were around to hear me—there are so many wandering the mansion I thought _someone _would be there for me. But there was no one—he'd even left the door open. He had his hands up my skirt and was yanking at my panties when Romeo came dashing in. He was snarling so much I barely recognized him. Romeo looks all sheepdog you know, but he's got a good quarter or more wolf in him—slightly unstable when enraged. He launched himself straight at Whitefie—oops._

He squinted at the word that had been half-written before hurriedly crossed out. He pieced it together instantly. _Whitefield_. From her description, it could only be Stanton Whitefield, owner of the Winner's main rival corporation.

He squinted at the word that had been hurriedly crossed out. Whitefield. He made a mental note to check on the guy before turning back to the book.

_He had his jaws clamped into his shoulder and pinned against the bed. I ran out screaming, looking for someone to help. No one seemed to hear me—until I saw faces streaming up the grand staircase that I had never seen before. Lovah was squealing and running away from them and I dashed back into the bedroom. They ran in after me, and looked thunderstruck at the sight in front of them. I don't think this is anything like what they'd expected when they'd been dispatched here. My clothes were in tatters, the bastard was dripping with blood, and Romeo was snarling low in his throat, watching them._

_They turned and they ran. They weren't soldiers—I don't even know what they were. Security guards? His bodyguard? They left, and I rang the police. The servants had all be tied up and gagged, dragged into one of the pantries._

_The press haven't been called. The man is _that _influential with the public. I can't do anything about it, Diary. It's been a night of hell and I can't do anything about it. Because I need to avoid a public scandal. Damn it! A public election is coming up, and I can't say anything because there is the smallest possibility that I might not be believed. I hate this. I hate them all. We have to bring the entire thing to a standstill. He doesn't come anywhere near me again, I don't say a word of this to the public._

_It's late Diary. Too late for a girl who has a meeting first thing in the morning. I'm staying at Dorothy's. I'm a mess. She was willing to let me stay, especially when I explained things to her. She'll keep it a secret. She enjoys knowing things others don't. _

_I don't know if I can sleep tonight, Diary._

_Relena__Dorlian_

He was furious that just because this man was rich and a sometimes politician, he could get away with attempted rape. It was insane. And Relena had had to go along with it… he clenched his fists, furious with himself. He should've been there. Someone should've been there. She hadn't told anyone else, it seemed. Even Wufei or Trowa would never keep something like this from him. They would never have allowed something like this to happen.

_June 29, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_A near-miracle has taken place. Chang Wufei, a boy I have never met until today has deigned to visit. With Sally Po, of course. She's the same field doctor I met at the hospital several years ago, at the beginning of everything. It was as if to introduce himself—Wufei had been switched into a different section of Preventers—my personal guard, in fact. Baffling, having an ex-gundam pilot as captain of your personal guard, but then, what about my life is normal? I suspect _someone _must have found out about… about what happened in February and appointed him. I suspect Lady Une. _

_Sally was wonderfully nice of course, and asked me about Heero. I guess she didn't know that he'd run off somewhere, and she's always had an interest in him. I don't know what kind of interest, whether it be professional curiosity or personal, but I've never asked. Either way, I haven't seen him, and I told her so. She didn't seem to know quite how to answer that._

_Wufei_ _seems to have been a surprisingly good partner to Sally in Preventers when he took Noin's place. And would you know it, the two of them have actually run off and gotten themselves married to each other. Legally, at any rate. I'm not entirely sure how the home life is going with the two of them, or whether or not there actually _is _a home life._

Heero raised an eyebrow. He'd heard from Wufei that he'd had several family problems that had needed to be smoothed over, and they'd included Sally in several of them. But he'd never known that those problems had ended up with the two of them _married!_ The boy had been sixteen then—and Sally… she'd been, what, twenty?

But at least now he could be assured no one like Whitefield could possibly find steal his way into Relena's home again. Wufei was nothing if not efficient, from what he knew of the boy.

_It seems the two of them went back to China_ _on some mission or other, which led to Sally facing her family—a very old clan with a name kept secret from outsiders. From the looks of it, the ex-commander was the black sheep of the family, and ran off to go fight in a war that the clan had no business in. She'd refused to marry before, I heard tell. There was an argument with her _very _old-fashioned father on the topic. And the truth came out that she was still in the military, working with a male partner in a division of Preventers._

_To say the least, he was outraged. Seems Sally had shamed him and her entire line of ancestors with her actions. A meeting was held, and a debate let loose. In the end, Wufei ended up being the only _male _to stand up for her. Sally was almost dreamy-eyed when she told the story—something that never happens, from what I know of the woman. "She's not going to marry, she's coming back to Preventers with _me_!"_

_It was enough for her father, it seemed. So much so that he gave Wufei his daughter to take to wife. A contract was drawn up fast enough that perhaps it had been planned to end like this since the beginning. I dont know what's happening between them now. When I asked, Sally just shrugged saying they were married only in name—but as for living together, they would wait. Well, they certainly have the time now that the wars are behind us. There is so much to be grateful for._

_Relena__Peacecraft_

Heero was beginning to feel a tad insulted at not being able to learn all the news until half a year had passed, and then, by reading someone else's diary! He'd certainly found it interesting that Sally and Wufei had accepted a marriage contract to each other… he'd never have thought Wufei liked the mothering attention she bestowed on him. But then… who was to know how they behaved with each other nowadays?

_July 18, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_We went to the carnival today, Diary. Dorothy, Cathrine, Trowa, Quatre, and I.__Quite a large party, as ex-pilots and politicians with busy schedules go. Dorothy was reluctant to come with us—we'd had to practically drag her along. She needs a little fun in her life as much as the rest of us, and I needed a chance to get away myself. We've since found out that Dorothy is deathly afraid of roller coasters. I love them. And so do Trowa and Quatre. So between the two of us (as can be expected, Trowa was absolutely no help), Quatre and I coaxed her onto the ride. _

_Cathrine__declined our offer, said she'd rather have a try with the target throwing. I guess her life is already plenty exciting she doesn't mind working even off the job. I think she knew full well that she'd get the big purple teddy bear I'd been casually drooling over while we passed—she slapped down her money and waved us off as she was presented with the five darts._

_Dorothy looked even paler than usual (an impressive feat) when we were seated and belted into the ride. But when Trowa leaned forward and bluntly asked if she was going through up, she turned her frostiest glare on him and probably would've said something suitably scathing if we hadn't started moving. She literally fling herself in the direction of Quartre's chest, latching on as if for dear life and shrieking "get me off get me off get me off!" _

_Whether it was because Quatre is a gentleman, or he actually _does _have an affectionate spot for the Ice Queen, he bore her strangle-hold on his lungs manfully, even going so far as to wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Upon the end of the ride, and once I had pushed away the mass of Dorothy's platinum-blonde hair that had blown into my face, Quatre was still the gallant nobleman, reaching out to help her out of the ride._

_I think the only reason she took his hand was because her legs were too shaky to get out herself—otherwise I'm sure she would have simply ignored him. They led the way to where Cathrine was waiting for us, the big purple teddy bear in her arms. Yes, that purple teddy bear now belongs to me. She just wanted to show off, and knowing everyone else---well, in any case. Mine. And I like it._

(Next, a small drawing of a _chibi­_ Relena, holding a purple teddy bear twice her size and smiling blissfully, which took up the next quarter of a page.)

_Relena__Dorlian_

He couldn't help but smile a the drawing, suddenly wishing he might have been there too, never mind that he generally disliked surrounding crowds of people. And from the way she put it, even Trowa had seemed to have had fun. And if Trowa could—he was damned sure _he_ was capable of it as well!

_July 28, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_You will never believe this—I've been asked to play a starring role in a movie! As if I'm a movie star! It feels so glamorous, and I know it's silly since I already know what crowds are like—and I haven't accepted yet. Should I? It's childish, and quite a bit funny, but I've got this image in my head of when I was a little girl with a half-molted feather boa draped over my shoulders, star-shaped sequined sunglasses, my mother's old shoes, and the sparkly red gown several sizes to big and tromping up and down the grand foyer because that was the only place with something resembling a red carpet. Now I've got this chance to do it for real and… should I do it? I know, I know, I don't have any acting experience whatsoever._

_I talked to the director—he said he'd watched on television so often over the years, he said he was sure I'd do perfectly fine in the part. I think I want to do this, Diary. I don't have enough time as it is, adding filming days and rehearsal times to my day planner will probably swamp me but…_

_Oh well. I shall sleep on it._

_Relena__Darlian_

A movie? Heero smiled, looking towards the door of his room, where one of the only things hanging on his pristine walls was a giant movie poster advertising _Caress of Twilight,_ the one and only gothic vampire movie Relena had starred in. He'd appeared often at the filming set when they'd been filming. Seeing her onscreen in the seductive costumes her character wore was one thing, seeing her in real-life acting the part before his very eyes was another. He'd been there at the screening only a few weeks again, and even to his critical eye, it had been amazing. That was Relena for you.

_July 30, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_I've accepted. The movie's called _Caress of Twilight, _a gothic romance. Vampires, black silk and lace—oh I love it. I start filming tomorrow. All the political things, the little things that keep coming up—the steady stream has dried up to a dribble, enough so that I can manage. I don't know how, but I'm beginning to suspect that Noin and my brother are the cause of it. Everyone takes so much effort simply for my sake—sometimes I feel so guilty to accept it. And yet—never look a gift horse in its mouth. I shall take what I get, I think._

_And would you know it, our elusive Heero Yuy appeared in the middle of it all, standing there as if it were nothing for him to be there. I must say, I think the smile on his face when I saw him suits him more than his often-seen frown. Afterwards, he just disappeared again… well, it doesn't matter that much to me. If he comes, he comes, if he stays away, that's his decision._

_Relena__Dorlian_

Heero bit his lip, Relena had become more than selfless since the first time he'd actually talked to her. Always, she thought of others before herself. She wanted him nearby; he'd always known that, but he wasn't ready yet to go back before he'd finished finding out what else there was in the world that he could _do_. And she knew that too. Even to her diary, she kept confiding that she wanted him to make his own decision, that she didn't want to force him to do anything. He respected that. She wasn't… pushy.

_August 16, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_We have since begun filming, and the work has been hard—although nothing I can't handle. I'm quite sure now that it really is Noin and Brother behind all the disappearances of my work and I'm glad for it. The movie's coming along fine… Duo's around a lot with Hilde. I think it's more because Duo loves Emily's cooking—the old woman dotes on him as if he were her son (Richard died in the war, I'm told) and Hilde doesn't seem to mind. _

_I like Hilde. She's a wonderful gossip. And I know myself entirely too well to try to pretend that I'm not one myself._

_Relena__Darlian_

Another smile… that one little sentence brought out a new side to the cool and refined Vice Foreign Minister, a teenaged girl, who still liked to gossip with her friends. His lip quirked upwards again as he remembered his earlier disgust at that type of female… before he realized that he hadn't minded when he and Relena had had one of their 'talks" where she prattled on and he drowned in the dulcet tones of her voices.

He leaned over, craning his neck to check the clock siting on the mantle—close to one in the afternoon. He still had time—perhaps Duo had known full well beforehand that reading the girl's personal thoughts and dreams would make want to see her again. Because all of a sudden, he recalled the strangely beautiful smile that she'd flash his way whenever she noticed him standing on a balcony watching her speak, or that look of hers that made you think and do impossible things. Trieze had known what he was doing when he'd appointed her Queen of the World. She was someone people would die to follow.

The thing was, he wanted to see her again. But… it was _Valentine's Day_. His time in school again had taught him, if nothing else he didn't already know, that if he went now, it would be an all-out pronouncement of the fact that he respected her, liked her… perhaps even loved her. And for him to even consider it, it was almost as if the decision had already been made.

He sighed—his thoughts were a complete roller coaster when it came to that girl. It wasn't always such a pleasant experience to try and sort them out again.

_August 22, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_The most unusual thing happened today on the set—well, truthfully it began normally enough. We were getting ready to start filming one of the seduction scenes. One of _my _seduction scenes—and a small crowd had gathered. I believe _someone _must have been able to pull some strings, because the general public is _not _allowed on set. And yet—there they were. Duo was there with a video camera—after swearing on several pieces of paper that he was not hear to steal anything—in order to tape any and all my mistakes (or so he said), Hilde was there to keep him in line (I even suspected that she brought a leash and collar in order to do just that), and Heero… Heero was there too._

Heero felt that now-familiar heat in his face as he recalled that day. It wasn't the first time he'd slipped in to look in on her. She was always aware when he passed in and out of her life—and still waited for the day where he would stop and _stay_. He wasn't entirely sure he was ready to do that just yet. But he definitely did not want to stay away any longer, either. But that day—that had almost sent him _running. _To be honest, he hadn't been entirely certain in which direction he'd wanted to run, either.

_Well, David (the actor I'm supposed to be seducing—beautiful man, I tell you) threw a temper tantrum. I'm sure you know him, Diary. Everyone does. He's been on the Top Ten Hottest for as long as I've cared to look, but when you meet him, you wonder if he ever mentally passed puberty. He is one of the most self-centered bastards alive. Today in particular, he was on a roll—nothing worked for him... the light, me, the costumes, me, the set, me, the directing, me, the unflattering camera views, and me. The reason, I believe, is because when he screwed up his lines (I believe he was out drinking last night instead of memorizing them) there was no one else to blame but his costar. Me._

_His antics even got poor Steve (the director) more than a little angry at him, and for the first time since I've known him, threw professionalism to the winds, gets up and grabs poor Heero from the corner (Duo caught this on tape, so I know this for sure) and brings him forward. I'm sure the boy didn't know it then, but he'd just found himself cast right into the movie itself._

_Steve was muttering about teaching "the little brat" a lesson, and Heero looked like he was trying to think of the quickest way out, without breaking too many limbs in the process. In retrospect, I'm almost surprised he had enough self-restraint to keep from dismembering Duo when he started whistling and catcalling (although it did earn him a rather hard smack upside the head with Hilde's handbag). I was frankly even more surprised when Steve looked askance at him—and he nodded!_

_Well… it was amazing. The scene came out perfectly—it was everything I'd imagined it would be when I read the script. I was splendid, of course. I need not keep from admitting it. I've had years of training to be a coquette, to work up to my grand debut before being launched into high society. It wasn't difficult to tweak it into a full-out seduction. But Heero—oh he was amazing. A glance or two at the script and he was ready._

_And the feel of him! Oh Diary, I can't even begin to tell you! There were yards and yards of silk and lace and jewelry but mmmm…_

Heero couldn't help but blush.

_It stays, Diary. I'll be happy to tell you that the scene stays. Steve says he won't be able to keep it out. He's writing it in. And it's marvelous. A slightly less marvelous, but still decent side-effect was David absolutely seething with rage as he watched his own dismal failure at acting out a scene a "two-bit, no-account little _boy" _could. Excuse me while I cackle with glee here._

_The most amusing part of the proceedings was that Heero actually looked surprised when he found me blushing and breathing hard after the scene. A pointed look later, I could have sworn he turned red himself, muttering a soft "oh". Yes. "Oh" Heero. I'm not completely immune to the presence of a good-looking male that I've happened to have been in love with for several years. Silly boy._

_Relena__Darlian_

There it was again! Silly! He was not _silly_! The idea that she wanted him, _still wanted him_, had shocked him. It was different from when they were fifteen—still children. So different. And he hadn't been expecting anything of the sort at _all_.

_September 30, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_I simply need to devote an entire entry on the subject of Roy. I don't believe I've mentioned him anywhere in this entire book yet, have I? Well. Now he's going to be mentioned, albeit briefly because I do not have the time to write for long._

A frown creased his lips as he read read the writing, set down in Relena's own graceful penstrokes. Roy? Roy who?

_His name's Roy Hamilton—the epitome of Eurasian WASP breeding… tall, blond, blue-eyed… beautiful. And I would know, Diary. I have seemingly surrounded myself with some of the most beautiful men out there. The tabloids say so. It must be true, clearly._

_In any case.__Most men of our generation seem to have become inflicted with a passion towards their hair gel. Perhaps it's to rebel against the military styles they've had to keep them in for so long, but nowadays it's spiked up in ways I hadn't thought possible, if it's not slicked back against their heads. It's not something I generally notice, but his hair caught my eye—it was so _natural. _With me, nothing seems entirely _me_. I wore the braids and people drew parallels with little children. I wore it down and I was told I looked like I'd slapped a mop or a wig on my head. And the ponytail? No, I won't even start on that._

_Back to Roy.__I was introduced to him through one of my fellow actors on the set—met him over lunch. We talked. He's a sweet guy, utterly innocent—something you don't see often in a movie star._

His frown deepened as an uncharacteristic wash of jealousy swept over him. He had no claim on the girl—God knows he'd given up any he'd ever had by leaving so many times—but that didn't mean he didn't suddenly wish himself at that table and could simply slip an arm around her waist to prove she was his. She wasn't his. He was being irrational. He didn't like that.

_He's also homosexual._

He blinked, and then felt a wave of embarrassment sweep over him. It made him glad there was no one to see him.

(Huddled over the video-feed transmitter, Duo and Hilde watched gleefully, pointing out the exact shade of Heero's cheeks.)

_Not that that matters overmuch with me. See, I really like him, he really likes me, and done and done I've made a friend. Actually, I've met his boyfriend too. He's pretty too. I don't know much more about him besides that, because he's even more shy than Roy himself. Quite a pair, the two of them. I wonder how on earth they manage to instigate sex. Because they are most definitely having sex._

_Anyway, after clearly surprising you with my interaction with other actors, color me sleepy and goodnight._

_Relena__Dorlian_

He felt his jaw drop in utmost astonishment at her candid assumptions about her friends' sex lives. What was… she was… He shook his head, his mind still swimming in confusion. _The little minx!_ And the way she'd just waved off his sexuality like that—she was so _open_ to everything, obstinate and hardheaded as she was.

This book did nothing in helping him try to understand the inner workings of the Relena-mind. He was quite certain she would always remain one inconclusive mystery. And he was not used to give up on anything. That was too close to failure for his liking.

_October 9, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm in 'hiding', Diary. Steve actually cancelled an entire day of shooting, citing reasons such as 'water maimage'. I… do not pretend to understand either. In any case, I'd finished my office work long since in preparation for this shoot, so I had a full, glorious day of absolutely nothing to do! As if in answer to my unspoken prayers, along come Hilde and Dorothy, with Duo loaded down like a pack mule with assorted beach bags and full beach gear. And here they were, inviting Romeo and me to the beach! Well, who am I to refuse? Especially when it is only once in a blue moon that Dorothy actually deems me worthy of partnering with her in a high-stakes game of beach volleyball._

_And we won too, though both Hilde and Duo continue to point out the mere technicality of the net falling down right before we took that last shot. It obviously cleared it, and their flailing hands, though they're not inclined to agree. The game inevitably ended in a mad rush out into the lake and a vicious game of water Frisbee—a game which Romeo quite clearly wanted to win._

_Of course, as always happens with us, we got into a bit of trouble. Or I should say Duo, being the man that he is, got us into a bit of trouble. There was a near-fistfight with some boys who'd be ogling Hilde in her string bikini (worn for Duo's benefit, I have been told in confidence). And while defending his girl manfully from perusing eyes, he almost got us all kicked off the beach grounds for instigating unnecessary violence in the process. _

_Well of course, someone managed to recognize him. It's not that difficult, considering his yard-long braid and the fact that his picture has been broadcasted across the globe and onto spacewide television. So we were treated to a foghorn-volume "HOLY SHIT HE'S A GUNDAM PILOT!"_

_The guy Duo had been punching out turned white, then a sick greenish color. Then they recognized the Vice Foreign Minister and Duchess Catalonia_… _and it was pretty much all up with us. I think we cut and ran just before the camera crews came running, bent on some juicy gossip with my name tied right into it. I swear if I had had a machine gun in my hands at that moment…_

_And so, that is how my day was slightly spoilt. Almost. My sense of humor can't ignore the fact that a random chase scene in various stages of undress and carrying a load of mishmash beach equipment is nothing short of hilarious._

_Relena__Dorlian_

The vid-phone rang just as he finished the entry, and he reluctantly tore his eyes away from the book, setting it down with a slight outtake of breath and got up, moving towards the control panel and switching on the visuals. The larger-than-life image of Trowa Barton flared into life on the screen, his customary seriousness intact. "Heero." He nodded at him, acknowledging his presence but without anything else towards that end.

"Trowa." Heero responded in like.

"Duo called me earlier—said you wanted access to Relena Peacecraft's location and entire weekly schedule. I wanted to ask if that's true. Is it?" It came sounding more as a statement rather than a question, because of absolutely no hint at all of an inflection in his voice. Heero was used to this by now.

He was silent for a moment, a small, thoughtful silence. _Why not? _He could ask… and if he chose to change his mind… well then. "Yes."

Trowa's eyes were the only things that managed to show his surprise. "And I thought it was just another one of Duo's bad jokes. Very well. I'll send it to you immediately, because reading out everything over this is pointless." With that, he signed off.

Heero nodded slightly and ineffectively at the static-filled screen before he flicked off the visual and went back to his sofa, laptop propped up on the seat next to his, this time. He didn't have long to wait, as he opened the email, and the long length of black type appeared.

Exactly as he'd suspected. It was just another busy day for the Pacifism Goddess.

**End Notes: **Did Heero make a mistake about asking Trowa? We all know how Duo will take this when he finds out that his joke turned out to be true! And if Heero _does_ meet up with Relena again, will there be a certain braided American holding onto a camcorder and taping the entire thing for pure entertainment? You'll soon find out in the next installment of _Dear Diary._

…Or possibly the one after that. I'm not sure anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Dear Diary (remixed)

**Author:** mirroredsakura

**Notes: **A short chapter—or so it looks to be. Knowing me, I'll have gone over it several times since I write these beginner notes and it'll have probably extended itself. Because as previously mentioned, I have this incapability of writing anything short.

**Disclaimers:** Once again, Gundam Wing and all affiliated characters do not belong to me. Again, people who write legitimate and have the rights to write them, are published and don't write them and post on online journals and fanfiction sites.

**Other notes: **One especial thing I have to complain about not-including the NC-17 purge and the chucking of the real-person fic section—this goddamned inability to use some characters, to have dividers between notes and the fic part, and the horrible sticking together of two entirely separate words. Relena Darlian is not ONE WORD. And yet. Smush! snarls angrily

_Free Hours: From 7 on… (What to do, what to do…?)_

That was at the very end of the jam-packed list. Heero checked the clock again—1700 hours now, plenty of time. He went back to his (—her?) book.

Honestly, now that he came to it, he didn't even know what he was going to do. It had suddenly occurred to him that even if Trowa would let him live it down, surely Duo, the self-crowned Ultimate King of Blackmail. As a point of reference, the one time he'd managed to get himself dragged into Relena's movie, he'd been forced to threaten his friend with physical violet (which had indeed included castration) so that the destruction of the tape in Duo's video camera could be carried out.

He sighed. Duo would be sure to pin him with this book, even if he went so far to slip into Relena's room and replace the purloined volume. Or if he didn't bring in the diary at all, he'd tell her what'd happened nonetheless. He had no wish to even _know_ that she'd be starry-eyed for the first few seconds (Duo was sure to go for the 'good news, bad news' approach). Then she would have that utterly crushed look for a brief moment before shrugging it off and smiling like it was nothing. Too bad Heero knew all too well that it was never _nothing_ with her.

_October 17, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm beginning to regret saying 'yes' to the movie. Gods know that I'm drowning in paperwork (if such a thing is even possible). I have since had absolutely no social life at all—especially recently since Patterson has decided to cheerfully grant me all _his _work on me and goes off parading his political manliness, and claiming near King of the World status. Well, I've had the job before, and it's no picnic, I assure you._

_And—oh sigh. I have no time to be writing even this. There is more work to be done, then eight hours of filming to go through. I need to sleep before I collapse right here at the desk (not a comfortable position to wake up in, I assure you). Good night, Diary._

_Relena_ _Darlian_

Heero frowned, trying to remember where he'd heard of this Patterson fellow. Then he smiled, and it wasn't a nice one. Ah yes. The man had been charged for his antics and that incident had been so completely exploited by his fellows (politicians were rabid sharks like that) that it had destroyed his career.

Heero had his suspicions that Lady Une had been the one behind it. The woman was incredible like that—she had connections into everything. The woman was a staunch supporter of the erstwhile Peacecraft princess, which made her a vicious opponent if anyone ever the girl. She played behind-the-scenes also—no one ever suspected one of the leading forces of the Preventers to be the cause of such destructive information "leaks".

He would have to tip the woman off to Whitefield if he did not choose to deal with it himself. He contemplated which was a worse fate—being in the hands of the Black Widow or the Perfect Soldier.

_October 31, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_You will never guess what I did today, Diary. I, Relena Peacecraft Darlian, age 17 and a half, went out for Hallowe'en! And you, dearest diary, will never believe the costume I went out in. I was a _casino bunny_! Me! I think that's illegal! In fact I know it's illegal! I advocated the passing of that bill! But since I'm not planning on serving drinks at a casino anytime in the near future, I think wearing the costume is safe enough. It was brilliant. I failed to mention that we're on L2 right now, Duo's home colony, and they changed the temperature settings so that it was warm enough for us to go about without bulky winter jackets like we would have on Earth. It was wonderful. We went out (well-masked of course) and I got _candy_! I know that sounds silly, but it was _fun_! I hardly ever got to anything like this as a child—my life was full of parties, even then. And when one has a party, one has to always be sure to look and act their best, especially in the eyes of the other girls._

_I never mentioned that the people I went out with were (you'll never believe this) Trowa himself. And Midii was there with us too—she's as pretty as Trowa's short, clipped statements hinted at. I can't describe to you the way he looks at her—like she's the most precious thing to him in the entire world._

_I love Hallowe'en. Or at least, I did until we went back to the hotel and Duo and Hilde joined us, carting along an impossibly huge collection of horror movies. I don't think I've ever been that frightened out of my wits. I admit it. I'm incapable of watching horror movies. Suspense kills me. Ghosts have me huddling behind a pillow. Deranged killers make me the most paranoid girl in the world. _

_I am going to try to sleep. And I will not recall the fact that we were watching an old classic called _The Shining _and that this is a hotel and there are people who might go insane and kill me and that there might be—no. No no no. _

_Relena_ _Darlian_

Heero laughed out loud. She might have stared down the worst of politicians with that stony glance of hers. She might have stared death in the face more often than he could count. And she might have been powerful enough to raise an army to march for her cause with just a few words. But she could not handle a single horror movie. He remembered that night. It had been the first time in ten months that she'd ever called _him_, scared half out of her wits, asking what to do when she was _sure_ there were people creeping outside her room ready to come after her with an axe.

He'd told her that Trowa was in the next room, and any axe-wielding, would-be murderer would probably think twice before coming up against the ex-Heavyarms pilot. She'd confessed to spending the rest of the night cuddling against Romeo, he recalled. Why she'd bring a dog out to the colonies was beyond him, but she was allowed her eccentricities he supposed. Besides, she should be grateful the couple hadn't shown her _Cujo_ instead.

_November 29, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_We're almost done filming!_

_Now you might see this as unusual—but this movie requires very little in the ways of special effects. It's nowhere near half-assed and the set and the costumes and the script is amazing—but that's what Steve's gone for. There's been entirely too much reliance on special effects now; this movie needs to be different. And I find it lovely. After this, I'll be done with playing pretend on the set and back in my office fulfilling my humdrum day-to-day duties. _

_We went out for dinner tonight; Cathrine, Dorothy, Hilde and I. It was a true girls' night, just as if we were any other four girls of the populace, and we had a splendid time being 'normal'. I must say, it was such fun to actually split the bill and rummage around in our respective purses for money—a real problem for Dorothy and I, who rarely carried small bills—especially when she noticed several telltale signs of aristocracy (Dorothy's absolutely gorgeous promise ring, for example) before shrugging and walking away—I think she even muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'slumming'._

_And then we tramped out in all our winter jackets, gloves and boots and had a wonderfully spontaneous snowball fight right in the park, which was already lit up with dozens of lights—it was already growing quite dark—and we had a grand time. Then we went in for several cups of cocoa and a general thawing before we all went home. I don't think my poor fingers will ever work properly again, but that's besides the point…_

_Relena_ _Darlian_

He couldn't help but smile at the thought—she _had_ to act older than her age to make sure the finicky world of politics respected her and treated her as an equal. But when she was around her friends, when she didn't have to pretend, she reverted to the little girl… carnivals, teddy bears, snowball fights—all the things that didn't seem so much like things she'd like, but were perfect wonderlands to her when she was with her friends.

He bit his lip, contemplating. What could he do with her tonight? No one would ever go so far as to assume he was a good conversationalist, after all—although from what he'd found out, she'd struck up a friendship with a lot of his old acquaintances—including Trowa! And what was he? He was the only one she was willing to keep at arm's length, only because she knew he wanted to be. He was the one who generally came to her the moment she was in trouble, and disappearing the moment she was out. Usually, that did not spark up much of a romance. But then… what were they if out of the ordinary? The usual never seemed to apply to them, ever. Perhaps that was to his advantage.

_December 25, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_CHRISTMAS! It's Christmas! And it was one of the best in my entire life. Mother was present—but only for a little while. I've grown so distant from Mother, it's almost frightening. She wants me to marry, I can see it in her eyes when she looks at me. She wants me to give up this political life. Can't she see that I _can't_? There's no one else to continue doing what I'm doing, so I have to keep on going until at least the groundwork is established. In any case, she soon left and the friends trooped in. All of them. It was a wonderful party, because that was what it was—a party. Not a gala, not a ball, just a party. It was wonderful—and Cathrine was gorgeous, dancing with Trowa. The two of them are so close—I had half-thought they were a couple before I'd found out they were siblings._

_Sometimes I half-believe that the sadness behind Cathrine's large blue eyes has little to do with a broken childhood and more to do with the fact that the only family she recovered she fell in love with first. But then she'll do something utterly sisterly that I'll forget about it, and she does love Midii Une dearly too. There is no jealousy in that girl, I swear. I daresay she was happy tonight, though._

_And there were presents! Pretty, pretty presents!_

(A picture of a _chibi_ Relena dancing around boxes and boxes and _boxes_ of brightly wrapped presents, and a Christmas tree in the background along with the rest of the old crowd in all their _chibi_-fied glory followed.)

_Hilde_ _gave me a duck!_

He blinked. A duck? A real one? It wouldn't be impossible, considering her paramour. He'd once found a goose in his bathroom, thanks to the braided _baka_. His landlord hadn't been happy to hear about the incident. The next line reassured him somewhat that the couple had _not_ in fact provided her with live fowl to run about the Vice Foreign Minister's manse.

_It's most certainly not a real one, though I'm quite sure Duo had certainly thought about it. No doubt he wanted a follow-up to the great Goose Incident. Luckily for me, I have Hilde on my side. From what I hear tell, though I have sufficient assets to support many a large farm animal in any of my bathrooms, the girl put her foot down. No sex for a month. She rules with an iron fist, that one. Duo didn't dare go against _that_, I'm sure. It was stuffed and it was plush. As such, it is one of the most adorable things I've ever seen._

_Duo gave me a teddy. Not a stuffed animal—a silk teddy, the sexy, racy kind you've find on the front of a _Victoria's Secret _catalogue. Apparently it was also a joint present from the pair of them—Duo looked quite devilish when he'd admitted to using Hilde as a model for nearly half the store's offerings. "We needed to find the best!" he says. Well, I'm certain they found it, but I'm also certain that it was purchased for their own personal use rather than for mine._

"_It's bound to come in handy after all!" was all Hilde had to say on the subject, grinning as impishly as her paramour. I don't know if they're planning something but… poor Heero received quite a few suspicious looks tonight. I think Brother might even have developed a slight hernia over it. I don't think his respect for a fellow soldier stretches far enough to allow that selfsame soldier anywhere near his baby sister. Well, what can one do, really?_

_Heero_ _gave me something too. It's a necklace—the exact same one I wore in the movie. I'm a rose, Diary, and he knows it. I believe that's what he wants to tell me. He's not exactly one for flowers and chocolate, nor is he one to say it out loud—but then he wouldn't be Heero if he did._

_Relena_ _Darlian_

He remembered that necklace—giving it to her had made an uncomfortable prickling of embarrassment crawl up his spine, especially when everyone else had been watching in breathless expectation. He'd watched her anxiously behind indifferent eyes and watched her face light up, and a delighted smile appeared on her face as if it were the first of its kind that she'd ever seen before, instead of having already worn its twin on the big screen and assorted photo shoots.

She'd been happy. And it was that kind of smile that made him feel almost as if he were on top of the world. It was a dizzying, giddy feeling and he wasn't entirely sure he trusted it. So he'd left soon after.

_January 21, AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_Busy, busy, busy… Work, always so much work. Maybe I'm lazy, maybe I've just gotten used to having the movie as an excuse to do a little less work. But everything's back to the way it was before now, and it's all papers, papers, papers, briefings, meetings… ah yes, how could I have forgotten?_

_Well, what can I say? Welcome anew to the life of the teenaged politician. Not much else I can scrounge up about my day to write about. The most eventful thing that happened was the fact that my Mont Blanc_ _finally (and I mean _finally _broke) and I had an excuse to go back to using a perfectly normal ballpoint pen._

_Relena_ _Darlian_

_P.S. Busy, busy, busy…_

That was the last entry in the entire book, and the rest was just pages and pages of blank white. He shook his head. There hadn't been anything in there that could tell him a thing of what to do for her for Valentine's Day… and Duo and Hilde must've known it. Of that much he was certain—they'd given him this book in the hopes that he'd remember just how he felt about her, all those different feelings she conjured up in him just by being around him.

…They hadn't needed to. If there was one thing he couldn't forget, it was that girl and the way she'd become someone unforgettable and irreplaceable. Once, in the beginning, they had confused him—and he did not take well to confusion. It had taken a long time before they had begun to reassure him.

And now, he wanted to see her again. Not merely because Duo would have a good laugh at him otherwise, but because he _wanted to_. He wanted to see that smile that glittered so brilliantly in his memory, and hear her laugh and watch her while she luxuriated on a day such as this.

He looked out the window at the metropolis outside, made up entirely out of human ingenuity—to have built these cities in the vastness of space. This was L1, and she was here, in this colony, right this very moment. He went for his phone and keyed in her number.

It rang twice before she picked up, sounding breathless. "Hello?" she asked, sounding as if she were power-walking down a street. Knowing the girl, it was not unlikely to catch her while rushing from one meeting to the next, having dialed her cell phone after all.

"…Relena?" was all he could think of to say, not at all used to making private calls of any sort.

She didn't say anything for a moment, and if it weren't for the fact that the background noises continued, he might almost have believed she'd hung right up on him—had it not also been entirely against her nature to do so. And then the background noises disappeared. "Heero?"

"Yeah."

"Well it certainly has been awhile—don't tell me someone's trying to kill me? Today, of all days?" her tone was still light, but there was already the underlining seriousness darkening her words.

He fidgeted. He, Heero Yuy, was fidgeting with his hands as if he were a—well, a nervous teenager asking a girl out on a date. It wasn't exactly a nice feeling, but there was still a little taste of accomplishment, how he'd come just another baby step closer to the humanity he so craved.

"No… nothing wrong. But you see… I mean… today…" he lapsed into silence, for once perplexed as to exactly what next to say. He was near stuttering. _Stuttering_. This was becoming going rather beyond belief.

She was quiet for a moment too, as if marveling over his sudden incapability for human speech, before she answered, sunny laughter back in her voice. "Are you on L1 still? At home, maybe?"

"Yeah." That, at least, he could answer.

"So am I—on L1, I mean. But perhaps you already know that?"

"Yeah."

He needed to think of something else to say in response. But what else was there to say? He felt tongue-tied. He didn't like it.

"Well… I have a meeting soon, but it's the last, so I'm entirely free for the rest of the day… do you want to meet up somewhere? For coffee, maybe? Or dinner? I'm famished." She paused. "…Or is the date just not right for you to do something like that with me today?" She was quiet now, priming herself for an expected rejection. He generally came on his terms, not hers.

It was now or never…

"I had a different idea in mind."

"…Oh?"

"Where are you? Right now, I mean?"

"Right now… ah… the ESUN Embassy. In the coatroom, to be specific. Another meeting just got out with some other foreign delegates and I wouldn't have been able to hear a word you said."

He checked the clock again. Almost 1800 hours. An hour more. Not bad.

"So you don't have plans aftewards, then?"

"No. Entirely free for the rest of the day," she replied. "I'm otherwise off to mope with my oh-so-gorgeous gold teddy, which has not had a chance to reveal itself off a hanger yet. Duo and Hilde must be disappointed—I'm sure they expected much more use than its getting."

"Was that a hint?"

"You know it's not. Just the truth. It's just pretty and I want to wear it, but it's not exactly something I can wear out on the street. Do you have alternative plans to suggest though? Preferably ones that can vastly increase my social life, this day?"

"You'll be off at 7, then."

"Yes. Why am I not surprised you know?" she asked rhetorically. It was an obvious answer. He was Heero Yu. It was as simple as that.

"Then afterwards, may I see you after the meeting?"

"You know you're always welcome to. Although I must say, it is new that you would ask permission beforehand." Amusement colored her voice.

"I've never tried to accommodate your time like this." He replied, truthfully.

"What do you want to do?"

"…It's a secret."

"Oh bother. You tell me this right _before_ my important meeting. You do this on purpose don't you? Just to preoccupy me for the next hour or so, and to keep me from concentrating on anything and everything anyone else says. That's your master plan."

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "Only if it works. Go to your meeting, I don't want you late."

"Ah. Right. Goodbye then, I will see you in about an hour."

He stood there for what felt like a long time after she'd hung up, listening to the beeping of the phone. _She said **yes.**_

In retrospect, he might have guessed she'd say yes. The others had often assured him that she'd never change the way she felt about him. But he'd never been sure. He'd always suspected there'd be a day where she'd just give up entirely on him and move on. She was still young—there was enough time in the future for her to start thinking otherwise.

And so he'd been nervous. Was still nervous. He didn't much like this feeling.

…But he liked the idea of having nothing even less.

He shook his head, forcing his concentration on his half-designed plan inside his head. There were steps to be taken. He went for his bedroom, wasting several minutes to change and to make a futile attempt at putting his hair into some semblance of order. Then, in the act of picking up his keys, he turned casually to the innocent-looking mug still on the counter and said quite clearly, "I'm coming down now. If you want to keep on playing your act of going unnoticed, now's the time to start running."

He then, picked up the mug and placed it in the sink, before sauntering out the door.

He then walked back in, his expression almost sheepish as he picked up his wallet from beside a small fish tank, glared at the solitary goldfish Catherine Bloom had gifted him with at some point in time, which was staring at him with a rather dumbfounded look on its inflated face, and then walked back out.

As he walked purposefully towards his car, he could've sworn he saw a Hilde-and-Duo-shaped blob from behind several bushes, and shook his head.

_I knew it._

Whoo Done. And this fic is almost done. One more chapter, and it's all over. No more diary entries, just real-time fun. It'll be short. Not as short as the original, but it's still shorter than the first chapter. I'm hoping it'll come out soon. Frankly, with my current rate of production when it comes to fic, this is coming out rather fast. ;p


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Dear Diary (remixed)

**Author: **mirroredsakura

**Notes:** I apologize for the long wait. In all its many revisions, this has always been the most problematic chapter to write, mostly because it doesn't follow the same format as the other two.

~*~*~*~

He was already standing near her car when she walked out the pair of double doors, caught in the act of undoing the tight ponytail she'd managed to put up all her multitude of hair into. Catching sight of him instantly, she smiled, waving. His hand came up automatically into a salute before he waved back, stiffly and nervously, suddenly caught by second thoughts about his seemingly flawless plan. What if things didn't go according to plan? What if she didn't _really_ want to go with him and was just humoring him? What if—but she was still smiling as she approached, and he knew her well enough by now that it was her genuine smile because it made her look her age, rather than the elegant woman-child the political word required.

"You've gotten more punctual, I see…"

_After forcefully ending a meeting on time for once,_ she thought wryly to herself. "Learned from the best after all, didn't I?" she returned, smiling, as she pulled off her kid gloves. "So, after having fiendishly kept me in the dark all throughout a communal and _very important _vote on the Terra project's—where are we going?"

"I though you… I mean… well, would you like to go to the carnival with me?"

She blinked, her face registering surprise, which almost dismayed him. Then it widened into a grin and she said in the most delighted tones he'd ever heard, "Do you _mean_ _it?_" Which made him come very close to feeling ecstatic. God, this girl was going to drive him insane—he was better than this—he'd been better at everything else than everyone else… _why_ was this so very different?

The truth was that he was not suave, nor polished, nor refined. He did not know the right words at exactly the right time. And that was exactly why Relena liked him so much—especially now; when that was a trait she valued most amongst those close to her. In the past, she'd been attracted to just how _wrong_ he felt, how dangerous and exciting and perfectly romantic in the eyes of a sheltered heiress destined for marriage and quiet cocktail parties. And now… now it was because he was so very _different_ from all the smooth-talking politicians that she dealt with daily and could not bring herself to stand.

So, when he made that _face_, the one she saw so seldom, where his entire face softened, and he looked young and nervous, and so far from self-assured, she had to hold back the crushing urge to simply fling her arms around and _hug_ him. She wasn't entirely sure he'd take very kindly to that. So she opted instead for hooking an arm around his, and leaning her head just a little bit against his shoulder—which just goes to show how tall he'd grown compared to her. "I'd love to… if you'll give me the chance to change out of this into something nicer…" she gestured at the wretched pink business suit she was wearing.

Dressing for appearances almost made her _hate_ the color pink.

"You always look nice," he blurted out, before he clamped his lips tightly, in order to stop any more words that bypassed the filter between his brain and his mouth. That was definitive of Duo Maxwell, not Heero Yuy.

She blinked again, a surprised giggle bubbling up her throat before she could stop it and she smiled at him, rapidly defusing his embarrassment with long-practiced skill. "Thank you. But I'm still changing. And none of your manly subtleties will get you out of waiting, my good sir. A girl must be given time to primp."

She slipped into her rented car, which had tinted windows installed; a mercy against the barrage of reporters that almost constantly thronged her vehicle. She wondered for a moment how he would have recognized this vehicle as hers, before she immediately recalled his top-level Preventer status. He would have had no trouble getting the information, she realized as she shimmied out of the various parts of her suit. She soon found herself thanking her lucky stars as she dug out the backpack she and Hilde had packed together in preparation for a colony-wide jaunt the next day.

In a few moments, she'd slipped back out again, a white visor on her head and her hair bundled up into a ponytail again—this time a tight high ponytail that bounced as she walked. She posed dramatically, modeling the tan shorts and sleeveless black shirt as if they were the finest in designer labels.

"Now I'm done. Lead the way, Cap'n!"

"That doesn't work under these circumstances at all," he objected, never having developed much of a sense of humor throughout his adolescence. Poor boy hadn't even had either Duo or Hilde around to teach him a thing or two, either.

Her eyes widened to astronomical proportions the moment she caught sight of it. Slipping her hands off his arm, she approached it like it was a shrine devoted to The Most Holy. "It's... it's _beautiful…_" she breathed.

Heero blinked. He had had no idea Relena was interested in cars, streamlined and sexy though he knew his to be. "It's a car." He informed her, warily. "My car."

"I can see that. But it's a _gorgeous_ car."

He looked down at it, still uncomprehending her ability to tell one car from the next. The only female with that ability he knew somewhat well was Hilde Schiebecker—and as she helped run a junkyard, it wasn't really a matter of choice.

She ran her fingers against the metal, still gleaming as the weather systems on this colony tended to be lenient most of the time. "It's almost the same as your eyes," she informed him finally, grinning. "Was that what you had in mind when you bought it?"

"…You give me too little credit," he informed her, allowing a slight smile to grace his features, "I _built_ it."

Her mouth made a perfect "o" of surprise before she shook her head ruefully. "I should have known—who else would upgrade the Wing Zero merely because he _felt like it_?"

"How'd you find out about that?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"I have my resources," she replied smiling, before turning back to peer through the window into the interior.

He unlocked it, automatically holding open the door for Relena on the passenger's side, which made her bite her lip to control a delighted giggle. "All the time spent with Quatre beginning to pay off, I see?"

"I actually think you might be right," he replied. "He makes it easy to imitate him."

There was a short silence reserved for seatbelt buckling, after which Relena pointed out, "It's the middle of February… won't the carnival be closed?"

He allowed a smile as he said, "Maybe on Earth… but definitely not on the colonies." Then they were off with the engine's voice a lovely purr, and the radio blasting per Relena's request. Heero found himself treated to a rather childish Relena singing along at the top of her lungs and waving her arms around with the music. It made for quite a distraction all the way towards the carnival.

Two figures lurking in the shadows behind them watched with glee, grinning maniacally as they took in every word they could catch. The moment the car was gone from sight, they leapt to their feet, indulging in another round of a celebratory whooping and wild dancing before they raced for their own vehicle in order to resume the chase.

When Heero and Relena meandered their way into the carnival's gates; their wrists ringed with admission bracelets, they looked around with delighted eyes. Or at least Relena twirled in circles like a little girl, dazzled by the happy carnival music rising in a cacophony all around her, and Heero's entire visage was _softened_ whenever he looked at that young, girlish face. Her enthusiasm was infectious; he couldn't help the smile that appeared sluggishly on his face, rusty from frequent disuse. "What do you want to do first?"

"Eat!"

He blinked. "You wanted to come to the carnival to eat?"

She pouted at him. "It's," she hastily checked her watch, "7:15, and I haven't had anything except a sandwich since before noon and I'm _famished_. Aren't you?"

"Now that you mention it…" he shrugged, "I had thought you might have preferred to have dinner at an actual restaurant—but you're used to that, too used to that, and I thought perhaps something different…" he stopped speaking immediately, firmly closing his mouth and vowing not to open it before he had a complete sentence at the ready.

"And you thought exactly right!" she replied cheerfully, taking the liberty of holding onto his arm again, "I'd rather this than a week of fancy dinners—which, I might add, I have had for the past _month_. The last good meal I had was gorging with Hilde on burgers and fries."

He eyed her in slight amusement, "You are easily satisfied."

"Doesn't that reassure you?" she retorted, tugging at his arm. "I'm hungry!"

They entered what amounted to a food court near the entrance of the carnival, which was fuller than the state of the grounds had led them originally to believe. After a minor scuffle where an indignant Relena demanded to know why they were showcasing baby chicks a table or two away from a stand selling buffalo wings. "It's barbaric!" she was complaining to Heero ten minutes later, "How could they do that to the poor animals?"

"How could you eat them?" he countered.

"Well, I—" she stopped to ponder her response, "I don't make them _watch_ their fate before I eat them! It's like… picking out your animal and _naming_ it and treating it like a _pet_ before you slaughter it!"

"There is a difference from farm girls naming their chickens before they eat them and the bad layout of this exhibit." Heero pointed out. "Most people find little things adorable when they're little and want to play with them. Everything just becomes obsolete when they're older."

"You talk as if they're weapons, Heero."

_You sound as if you're talking about yourself._

He frowned. "Maybe you're right." He shook his head. "Peacetime is too quiet—it gives me entirely too much time to think. And then I start to regret." He shook his head, forcibly trying to change the subject. "But you're still hungry. So we're going to have to get something to eat."

She eyed him soberly for a moment, that exact expression of seeming all-knowing that had made him want to run away in the past. It was like she could see in a straight line directly through all his mental and physical barriers into the heart of his soul. And as if proving this, she answered with a bright smile. "Goodie! And since I'm always greedy about the food I like to eat, it's my treat!"

"Think again," he countered gruffly, "I have a chance to spend money on things outside of mecha and I'm damn well going to take advantage of it."

She paused. This had all the merits of a _date_ date. Her heart fluttered at the realization. In retrospect, she should probably have realized it the moment he'd appeared so nervous, but years of his continued semi-attentions had made her hesitant to believe. "All… all right…" she mumbled, unable to stop the blush that rushed to her cheeks. Flustered. She was _flustered_.

This was new.

Promptly, they wound their way to the poster-covered counters.

Afterwards, Heero, having wrestled the third tray of food from Relena's grasp in order to carry to their table—she insisted she could carry all three easily enough—walked behind her wondering just _where_ all that junk she enjoyed shoveling into her system _went_.

She answered his unspoken question as soon as they sat down. "_Ummm_…" she moaned, sinking her teeth what he thought looked like a half-dead piece of cow clapped between two pieces of dubious-looking bread. "I haven't had anything like this in _ages_."

That might be why.

"You do realize that what you're eating is disgusting, don't you?" he asked, almost conversationally as he picked at the safest thing he could find—a salad. And even that was looking rather questionable—there were certainly too much brown to the leaves, and what exactly were those purple things? What did these people put in their salads? He shook his head, doubly glad that he'd taken the effort to learn to cook and fend for himself rather than be subject to this… stuff.

He really was at a loss for words as to what this stuff really was.

"And do _you_ realize that you're acting like the poster child for anorexic ballet dancer?" she retorted, taking another large bite of her half-dead cow with relish.

He thought he should take offence to that.

Close by behind Heero, chatting quietly with a seeming redhead, beneath a large hat and with a braid that had been neatly tucked into the turned-up collar of his jacket, was a figure trying his damn best not to break out into a fit of snickering. "Hilde-babe," he murmured, tucking his chin deeper into his collar, "We are _so_ giving him a tutu for his next birthday."

"Sweetie, we don't know when his birthday is."

"Christmas, then."

"Too far away."

"Halloween, then. Thanksgiving. Freaking St. Patrick's day."

"Maybe we should start from a leotard and work our way up."

"Hah, point shoes and everything! You're a _genius_, babe."

"Shhhh… Lena's talking again."

Relena was actually chewing on the straw of her drink; a bad habit Hilde knew she'd never been able to break herself out of, as she watched Heero continue to poke at his salad. Finally, she shoved a plate of fries towards him and, gesturing with one of her own, ordered him to "Eat."

"Relena, that plate has nearly liquefied from all the grease that's soaked into it from those things."

"Which means that much less left in them for you!" she replied cheerfully, prodding the plate closer towards him.

"…Relena, I don't think—_gloup!_"

She pulled back with a triumphant smile at his startled expression, after having stuffed a fry in his open mouth, the end tipping out his half-parted lips. "Now chew," she told him, looking quite pleased with herself.

His features rearranged themselves into a resigned expression as he did as he was told, quickly ingesting the foreign object, and getting it done and over with as fast as he was able.

"It wasn't _that_ bad, was it?"

No. It wasn't bad. But it was still a lump of nearly indigestible deep-fried potato. He told her as much.

She managed to give him a _look_ that on any other girl would have been rolling her eyes. But Relena was Relena, and she was always elegant when she did not consciously think on what she was doing. "Well, at least that's progress…"

The topic of conversation soon turned away from what Relena was managing to continue ingesting in her petite form, and led instead to their mutual friends. Namely, Wufei and Sally's marriage.

"I had been told that they were legally married, but nothing more than that."

"Oh… something like that… not a lot of people know. I don't even think Duo knows. They've been skirting the issue ever since they came back from China… both of them are so bullheaded, you wonder how they ever get anything done at all down in the Preventers core."

"…They have a soft spot for each other."

"Why Heero, I never knew you'd noticed!" she was grinning at him; a look that made him acutely embarrassed, and only long training kept him from ducking his head bashfully like he had the sudden urge to do. "But I suppose you're right… I just wonder when they're actually going to go through with an official ceremony, and whether or not they'll end up living together. I have every intention of teasing Wufei to no end." Her eyes glittered, and he realized that time spent in her company must have softened Wufei as well, if he'd reached the level of comfort to be teased by the former Queen of the World.

"I tried to find a life where I'd be normal," Heero said slowly, thinking carefully on the words he was somewhat clumsily putting together, never having expected himself to divulge his reasons for staying away. "What would happen away from the people I knew, and the… the fighting. But my life isn't normal without…" he paused, looking slightly frustrated as only Heero Yuy could, with trying to figure out what to say. Relena found herself holding her breath. "Well I couldn't stay away completely, either. But I've missed a lot."

She let out her breath slowly, hoping it didn't sound too much like a wistful sigh. That was… acceptably close enough, coming from the usually stoic ex-pilot. "Time you got caught up then, I think…"

And then she got to her feet, rapidly piling up the used paper plates into neat stacks on the trays. "But that will come while we're walking. I want to play!"

He couldn't help the smile as she cheerfully disposed of the garbage, stacking the trays into the provided slot, starting the automatic sanitizer with an idle press of the button before she was back and pulling at his arm in an attempt to get him to his feet. He noticed the solemnity that never really left her eyes was almost unnoticeable when they sparkled like that, and even he could imagine the fun-loving slip of a girl she would have been. _Should_ have been.

There it was again, that hard, choking feeling in the back of his throat and the ache in his chest…

He decided right then and there to join the seeming alliance with Dorothy and perhaps even Milliardo to keep Relena from being crushed in the proverbial Venus flytrap that was the political world that she passed through each and every day.

"Okay… so… the games are over there… and Kiddy Land is in the opposite direction… and oh, there are the roller coasters nearer that area… and… hmm…" murmured Relena as she busied herself with the colorful map of the grounds that she'd picked up from heaven knows where. Heero was having a fair time steering her away from people by way of having one of her arms curled loosely around his, and keeping her from bumping into every stick, stone and small child that managed to pass a close distance to his golden-haired companion.

Suddenly he stopped short, because the arm around his had slipped away he looked wildly around for its owner. She was a politician, she was far from disguised… an attacker? He turned an instantly furious gaze on a chubby little lady herding her fat little grandson along, before switching to the couple sitting along the ledge limbs wholly tangled togethe—

"Heero!"

He whirled to see her waving at him from beside a clown holding a bunch of large balloon animals, waving cheerfully at him and giggling. As he waded through the sparse crowd towards her, she pointed. "Let's do that!" he looked up warily, following her finger, and upon sight of the flashy signs, he felt his jaw muscles slacken, though he kept his mouth from dropping open. "You… _that?_" he asked in something near disbelief.

She nodded again, "Yes, in fact. I do. With you."

"With…" He shook his head. "No."

"But… but… please, Heero?" she wheedled, tugging at his arm as she was unable to find a suitable reason to submit him to utmost embarrassment. "Humor me? Just a little?"

He looked at her. She looked back at him, although the excitement was fading and a subtle resignation was already present in the depths of her eyes. He had a sinking feeling that he was the _only_ thing she had ever resigned herself too. To everything, everyone else, she was resolute. To him... it was almost as if she'd almost given up. And he couldn't accept _that_.

He sighed, realizing his decision had already been made. "_Twilight_," he said finally, "has had a very bad effect on you."

She brightened instantly. "You mean you will?"

"Whatever you want, princess."

The endearment slipped out before he could stop it, and though he felt his eyes widen in response to his own… his own… his own what? Audacity?

Looking over at Relena's unabashedly shocked expression; he made no attempt to take it back. She shook her head, and murmured something along the lines of "I wish I had a recorder disc right now…"

"Let's go now then," he said finally, "Before I change my mind."

"Yessir!" she slipped her hand in his, leading the way towards the time era booth.

Neither of them noticed the muffled squeal of success from behind them, nor the light reflecting off a high-focus lens, nor even the subtle clicking of the camera.

It was a place which looked like the threads of Time had gotten themselves tangled on that gigantic metaphysical spinning wheel and had just been randomly yanked off it in disgruntled impatience, crumpled up into a little ball of odds-and-ends mess, and dumping it carelessly aside. It was like a walk through a time warp. Strictly speaking, fashion these days was as varied as the stars, but everything here seemed a non-matching throwback into the distant past. Neon go-go boots warred for space with lacy platform sandals and newly-polished Mary Janes. Late Victorian-era blouses hung right up against ancient Sidonian silk dresses and large cotton poodle skirts. Wigs ringed the one dressing table they could see through the half-opened door, and what looked like dozens of makeup containers lay scattered like some _haute couture_ version of confetti.

As if to keep up with its topsy-turvy costume offerings, multiple sets formed a large wonky oval, spaces in between peaked inwards with drawn curtains for changing rooms. A bird's eye view gave the impression of a lopsided and inverted star. Currently, there was a petite woman dressed in what once might have been a school uniform; a black sailor blouse and short pleated skirt hiked up high on her legs, as well as knee socks and nondescript brown loafers. The man looked liked he'd stepped out of an old spaghetti Western complete with cowboy hat and he brandished an ugly-looking handgun which had Heero eyeing suspiciously before he ascertained that there wasn't even a trigger on the prop. They were both laughing as she took advantage of her impossibly long legs to display a jaw-dropping amount of tanned, toned flesh.

Relena didn't seem to blame Heero when his eyes locked on them automatically and widened just the slightest because she couldn't help but stare herself. "Now why," she muttered momentarily, "did God not give me _those?_"

Heero shook his head, turning to her what only a little difficulty. "Why Miss Darlian," he said at last, the teasing tone and words unfamiliar on his tongue, even after nearly a year of practicing. "I never thought your tastes ran up into the exotic…"

He watched for her reaction almost anxiously behind those closed-off blue eyes that never let anyone see exactly what he was thinking unless he expressly wished them to.

She couldn't help the shocked expression that flitted across her face and caused her eyes to widen, before the laughter bubbled up in her throat and rang out without a care as to who was listening. "I," she said finally, amidst the subsequent giggles, "will never be able to figure you out, Mr. Yuy."

He allowed another small smile, "As I might say the same about you. Shall we?"

She looked as if she were ready to bounce her way up the stage itself. "Yes!"

Ten minutes later, she was rethinking her impulsive decision. "I don't want to come out!" she called, not even poking her face around the curtain to her 'dressing room'.

Heero, who'd been dubiously eyeing his own resignedly-worn ensemble, frowned at her. He recognized those tones of embarrassment. "Relena…."

"You were right! Clearly this was a mistake. And I should not have eaten that last plate of fr—_eek_!"

For Heero had calmly gripped the faded red velvet of the curtain and yanked it out of her grasp, sending her tumbling forward against the jabot of satin at his throat. A quick visual sweep confirmed that she _was_ fully dressed—and then he felt his cheeks begin to burn.

"Relena…" he said slowly, through the apparent cardiac arrest, "What… are you wearing?"

She flailed around for a moment before grasping his shoulders and pulling back to stare, giving him a thorough once-over, and then another just for good measure. "Wow," she murmured, "I didn't think they made pirates that sexy…"

Heero did not take well to embarrassment. Thus he had always made sure that there would be nothing to be embarrassed about—that he would always be perfect. But now he had the strange feeling that if he had not been resigned to such a comment, he might have blushed from the roots of his unruly hair down to his leather-booted feet.

"Oh you look simply _lovely_, dear!" chirped a voice from behind Heero, causing him to spin around, hand already at the professionally-dulled sword at his side. In a pinch, it would do.

But no, the assistant was already fluttering past him, pulling at Relena's wrists, deftly attaching heavily-ornamented cuffs that glittered and tinkled and clinked together in a waterfall of sound that matched the ornamentation on her clothes.

He frowned, taking in the rather alien sight of the ex-Queen of the World dressed in a glittery version of the dancers he'd come across during his travels in Arabia with Quatre.

"Egyptian belly dancer," she replied, her face still a deep red, but she sashayed her hips, to demonstrate that musical sound again to a greater volume.

"Lovely," the assistant repeated again, forcibly reminding them both of the outside world, and Heero immediately frowned at his momentary slip. For all things considered, he was on-duty, and being caught off-guard was unacceptable. Relena was here with him without a bodyguard after all. That meant someone knew him and trusted him to keep her safe. He couldn't afford to forget that now.

She watched his expression change, and she knew as soon as he did the moment he reverted back to his soldier-mode visage. Taking it upon herself to further her day of attempted gaiety, she took one of his gloved hands and dragged him towards the sets, "Time to play," she told him cheerfully, and if he did not return the smile, she pretended not to notice. He was trying. The least she could do was the same.

Afterwards, Relena found herself shaking her head in wonder, tugging her shirt back into place. "When you put your mind to something," she told him, "you really go all out."

The look his face arranged itself in was as close to smug as she'd ever thought he'd get. "It's a point of pride." He replied, as he shuffled through his half of the glossy photo prints they'd purchased. "You don't look half-bad yourself, Miss Darlian. I would almost think you're used to posing in that thing."

"Oh please don't ever let anyone quote you on that. I know how much pornography already involves my name and my numerous better-endowed doubles."

He stared thunderstruck at her nonchalant expression as she continued to flip through the photographs, wondering how on _Earth_ she could she—

"By name too."

He wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. One simply doesn't go and have a business meeting wherein you meet the people involved in making low-budget pornography that has the illusion of being about yourself.

"They weren't entirely that bad, some of them. Quality improved once I asked politely."

She had _allowed _it! _And suggested improvements!_

She looked up then, her lips twisting with the effort not to laugh. "And then I sold myself on the black market to a man named Abu Khalim Khalesh. Lady Une had to intervene and purchase me back as her own personal love slave in order for him to relinquish me, it was _fabulous_."

"You… Relena Darlian… are sometimes more insane than anyone will ever accuse me of being."

"And I will take that as a compliment, as I'm sure it was meant as such," she replied flippantly, her attention already turning to whatever new shiny had caught her eye. "Heero?"

He raised an eyebrow as she didn't turn, "Did Duo pay you a visit anytime recently?"

For a horrified moment, his brain was set on _she knew, she knew, she knew, Duo that complete and utter _bastard_, she knew, she knew, she knew_ before she continued, "Because doesn't that girl over there in the funny dress look exactly like—"

The moment he craned his neck to look, he saw a flash of short dark hair on top of a too-large jacket, and long chestnut hair not too far from it.

He didn't know if it was a testament to Relena's sharpness or Duo's lack of stealth.

For an ex-pilot that had been _legendary_ in stealth, it was hard to imagine Duo's skills dulling that much, that fast.

Interesting.

"I think she saw you!" hissed Hilde from her position flat on the ground in the crowd so as to avoid catching the couple's eyes any further.

"We've got to hide!" Duo hissed back. Unfortunately for them, their attempts at hiding brought them more than one strange look from the people around them. So much so, that they began avoiding them by walking in a wide circle away from them, rather than simply milling about. Hastily, they crept back to their 'Headquarters' propelled mainly by their elbows. Upon reaching the impromptu base—the hotdog stand—they breathed a great sigh of relief… one upon which the hotdog vendor eyed them queerly for, and shuffled a few inches further away.

Not far from the point where they'd just left, Heero had steered her away from the small commotion. If the idiot wanted to make a fool of himself, he could do it on someone else's time. "Where to next, princess?" he asked. The endearment felt foreign on his tongue, but it continued slipping out as if it were the easiest thing to say in the world. Clearly another side effect she had on him, because she looked down to study the small map thoughtfully, a smile was curling on her lips.

"How about… oh, how about the games?"

"You do realize that most of them are rigged in a place like this, don't you?"

She pouted. "But it's all in the name of fun. And besides, if you win, we can always watch them squirm in undiluted shock."

Passing by the colorful stalls and the loud caterwauling coming from each on large megaphones, he caught sight of a large purple teddy bear hanging from one of the booths and smiled to himself, the memory of a random _chibi_-Relena and a teddy several times her size. But the large plush dolls hanging over another booth distracted Relena, and she pointed excitedly to them, tugging at his arm. "Could you get one of those for me?" she asked, as if it were a redundant question.

It obviously was.

He couldn't help the grin that spread over his face. Her mood was infectious. He'd done more smiling on this day than he had in the previous six months. "Whatever you want."

They approached the booth, and she plunked down the coins before he could stop her, which the girl behind the counter snatched up gleefully, almost faster than the eye could see. "My turn to pay to see you watch yourself show off," was all she said as she motioned him forward.

"What do I have to do to get one of the big ones?" he asked. The girl behind the booth looked as if she'd aged prematurely and was doing her best to hide it under several cakes of makeup. "This is a shooting range, junior. That means if you shoot 'em all, you get one of the big ones. You in?"

He raised an eyebrow, but nodded shortly. "Already been paid for, after all."

She handed him the rifle. "Good luck, kitten."

He didn't answer, but his lip tightened as he hoisted it up and took careful aim.

That was when Relena realized it was in the bag. He was Heero Yuy. He was a former Gundam pilot. He could do anything.

It took several moments for the girl to realize he'd done it, so busy was she scouting for more players that he had to take aim at one of the thin strings holding up a small plush toy right over her head, snapping it and letting the toy plop down on her with a soft 'fwoomp'. "I won."

Her head swiveled instantly to the boards, where there were neat precision holes in each of the targets, before she looked back at him with something close to admiration. After all, she rationalized, this youth couldn't be that much younger than herself…

Relena, impatient with the older woman's obvious attempts to flirt, leaned over and pointed. "I want that one!" she told her firmly, and though the woman attempted to glare her down, Relena had stood up to much worse and returned it with her own look of cool amusement. As the prize was handed to her, Heero was quite pleased to note that it was a large Wing Zero Custom plush doll that she'd chosen, nearly two feet tall, and none of the others. Nice to know the wings were appreciated—he'd received more than he thought his fair share of teasing because of them.

They ploughed their way through the games, eventually acquiring several necklaces, a large sombrero for Heero's head, and a stuffed monkey which Relena hung gleefully around her Wing Zero's neck. Stopping in the darkness and neon flashing lights of the arcade, they challenged each other to random _Street Fighter_ matches on what looked like an ancient salvaged hulk of a machine, virtual car racing, as well as the odd dancing game. Heero excelled at all of these, except for the last, in which Relena had beat him soundly.

"I thought you were good at dancing," she'd accused him, after they walked out, gasping for breath as she fumbled for her water.

"Well I certainly don't call that _dancing_," he protested, frowning at his latest defeat.

"Tsk. Just for that, we're going to Kiddy Land!"

"Relena!"

"You're balking!"

"Relena, I do not _balk_."

"Yes you are! You've got that frown on your face, and if you were a puppy, you'd be digging your heels into the dirt and yanking at the leash!"

"You… are comparing me to a puppy…"

He didn't know if he should be offended about that.

"Yes! You do that little scrunchy eyebrows thing that my puppy does. Well. If she had eyebrows, anyhow."

"…This isn't going to do anything to keep me out of Kiddy Land, is it?"

"Nope. I'm entertained that you thought to try, however."

As the entered the realm of the shrieking children and the overabundance of luridly-colored clowns with animal balloons, Heero wondered if his ears would ever be the same again. Surely his career as a sometimes field spy was over, after this. But Relena, unperturbed, went straight for the train ride, where she promptly began bouncing up and down to be able to see past the shoulders of the parents and their children. The line was long, as most families tend to avoid family outings to carnivals on Valentine's Day.

Heero found the girl having seemingly the time of her life when she was faced with several large brass bells which she proceeded to _ding_ with pleasure and watch all the passing sculptures the little ride passed by in a creaking, groaning fashion. He found himself worrying less about the suspicious creaking that the ride was making beneath the ugly— and sticky— vinyl seat and more at the sights around him… even if from a cheesy children's ride. He was relaxing because he was having a good time, he realized with a jolt. A boy who'd been born and bred as a soldier rarely found himself relaxing, and rarely found the company of a weaker female entertaining unless it was about sex. Heero realized anew that he very much liked being around Relena, with or with the appeal of sex.

It was only afterwards, when they sat down on a vacant bench and Relena had purchased them two snow cones that trouble hit them, in the form of two rather unfriendly-looking ex-soldiers. They slouched in their large, baggy, standard-issue cargo pants that should have long been tossed into the trash or tacked up to the wall as a memorial. The large bulge in one of the side pockets, previously well-covered by a large jacket he'd now had slung back by swaggering over with his hands in his pants' pockets, was more indicative of a firearm than a firearm, to Heero's keen eye.

He looked coolly up at them, mentally calculating just how quickly he shove Relena behind the bench for some temporary cover if he needed to protect and defend. Relena's face had gone stony that he knew so well—it was a look he had once seen every time he'd looked into a mirror. It was disconcerting how easily the emotion could drain from her face, and see her face set in that distant, somewhat bemused look. He didn't think a girl's eyes could go that empty on command. The wars and their outcome had certainly done more damage than she had ever let on.

Although he could see that through her calm, she was already scanning her immediate area, most likely for a decent spot to get out of danger and leave him to do his job. He liked that, liked knowing she knew when to depend on him if she had to.

But whatever grudge they had was not against the Vice Foreign Minister, but rather against himself.

"Hey you!" called the one. Immediately sensing trouble, the previously buzzing crowd silenced, and the adults present quickly began ushering their children towards the exit as quietly and unnoticeably as possible. People were watching them carefully now, mainly the guys working the rides, some of them already with hands on the security phone receivers.

Heero watched the men walking towards them with a keen eye. Young, mid to late twenties, if that much. Telltale scarring, several bullet scars—old but not that old. War vendetta, he decided, his lips tightening at his conclusion. That meant they could be professionals.

The long-forgotten sombrero he was still wearing came in handy as he slowly removed it, setting it aside and blocking anyone's view of the position of his hand, ready to snatch the gun hidden at the small of his back.

"What do you want?" he asked finally, his voice dropping down into his old monotone that betrayed as much as the cold glass of his eyes.

"You're the gundam pilot, aren't you?" It wasn't a question.

"I was one of several, yeah."

"You and I have a deal to settle, you bastard."

Heero looked him over slowly, tauntingly, from the tips of his scuffed boots, to the top of his greasy spiked hair that hung flatly into his eyes. "Who are you again?" he asked coolly, in a tone that implied the man wasn't worth remembering even if he _had_ met him—which he couldn't readily recall.

"You don't know 'im," the other guy spoke up, glancing warily at his surroundings.

Heero refrained from saying something suitably scathing or insulting—prudent, he thought, in the face of armed men in front of a woman he needed to protect.

"You don't even know what you did, do you? Shit, little punk like you and you just go ahead and—"

His friend nudged him, "Get to the point, would ya?" he muttered, "Someone's gonna come and ask what's going on pretty soon and then they're going to start asking questions."

Heero took that with some relief. If they were so worried about getting caught, they hopefully wouldn't try something in full public view. Although one could never be sure. People were dangerous and volatile.

"I had a brother, damn it. You killed him."

Oh. So he was one of _those_.

This would be a bit more difficult to work around. Guys like this were irrational, more so than most, and prone to emotional outbursts. Heero didn't want an emotional outburst at this time because in his experience, this was often accompanied with wildly inaccurately-aimed gunfire. He could accept the man bursting into tears, but it didn't seem likely.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

He grimaced internally at the slip. That would just make him angrier. He couldn't afford to make this man angrier.

"You _can't_ do anything about it, you little shit! He's _gone_ and you… you're…"

"I had a brother," spoke up Relena, and Heero nearly jerked in surprise at the sound of her voice. He shot a warning glance at her, silently ordering her not to gain the men's attention. She didn't even look at him, her body was still and in control, and she looked as if she _knew what she was doing_. His frown deepened as he turned back to the men in wary apprehension. "He was killed in the war; no one ever found his body."

_Well no, they wouldn't when he's currently skulking around in the L1 cluster…_ Heero thought unhelpfully, wondering what on Earth she was going at.

"I had a father too," she continued, her eyes flinty, but her voice was low and sweet—what one would use with a skittish colt, "he was assassinated. And I knew who did it. I tried to kill her."

The man was looking dubiously at her, possibly wondering why on Earth she was butting in on his somewhat incoherent ranting, and how anyone of her stature could contemplate assassinating anyone.

"I failed, though. Not hard to believe, she was a seasoned soldier and I was a spoiled little rich girl. Do you want to know who she is now?" she asked him, pinning him with those eyes of hers.

"I… don't think I care," he replied with only a hint of his former bluster. This girl and her total control was both staggering and confusing, and he wasn't quite sure what tangent he should go on from here.

"Hey," the other man was saying insistently now as he stared at Relena, "hey isn't she…?"

"She's Lady Une, leader of the entire Preventers division. I granted her that position, to be the top brass in the strongest military force we've constructed since the Eve wars."

"You're that girl," the other guy was still saying, "You're the one we all listened to, the one we all fought for…" He had something of a horror-stricken look on his face, as if by saying it, she'd immediately reassure him otherwise.

"I did what I wanted everyone else to do," she continued, "and I tried to forgive and move _on_. Your brother is not coming back. You won't feel justified if you attack Yuy, if you land yourself in prison and continue hating him all your days because it doesn't make anything better."

The man was silent, as if he was physically trying to ignore what she was saying, to tell himself that she was just messing with him. But those eyes never blinked, never let up their stony truth, and he couldn't find whatever words he wanted to say.

"Join the Preventers."

Everyone turned to look at Heero, who had finally spoken up, with all his typical bluntness. "You want to make things better? Find a woman, have children you care about, and protect them. Keep the wars from ever happening again. _That_ will do more than fighting me ever would."

He stood, dragging Relena to her feet. She somehow managed to make the sudden jerk to her arm look graceful; a product of hours of dance class and sometimes sub-par partners.

Keeping her in front of him, they strode very quickly into the sparsely-encompassing crowd make very sure that they didn't break out into a run until they were sure the two men weren't going to follow.

"Well that was… eventful…" Relena remarked as soon as they'd disappeared far enough into the crowds for him to reluctantly slow his pace down. "I suppose that was our cue to leave?"

Even with her face so carefully blank, Heero couldn't miss the note of wistfulness in her voice. He frowned thoughtfully. Logically, after a confrontation like that, the best thing to do was to leave immediately, as well as contacting her head of security. The incident may not have been directly caused because of her appearance at the carnival, but her involvement was enough to warn him not to take any chances.

Still…

"It depends," he replied finally, adjusting the large hat he'd readjusted back onto his head and flipping open his phone to key in a number.

Duo was not far from them, still keeping a keen eye on the two ex-soldiers milling about in apparent confusion as to what to do next. He wasn't surprised when he heard his phone ring and answered immediately. "Hell of a show you put up out there," he said without preamble, "I think I'm impressed."

"You see them?" was the curt reply. Most of it was just normal Heero bluntness, but Duo suspected it was also because he was still standing right next to Relena. Always liked his mystery, that one.

"Yeah. Pricks look more confused than anything. One of them was considering going after you at first, but the friend grabbed him, started talking a whole spiel about Relena being who she is, calmed him down some. I think you're safe for now; Hilde's going to keep an eye on them but I'm going to keep shadowing you 'cause I can and you'd be lost without me."

Heero could just _hear_ the grin and wink through the receiver, and frowned. "With as much discretion as always." He said before he hung up, somewhere right before Duo's cheerfully-ignorable reply.

"I think we're all right for a little while longer," he said as he pocketed his phone. "Might want to keep to the other side, though."

He hadn't ever thought a simple flashing of teeth could _glow_ like that as he made a good attempt at returning it as she promptly consorted her guide map for suggestions.

"The Ferris wheel!" she said at last, pointing at the ride looming up in the distance, a colorful glitter against the white-silver of the colony's upper dome.

"Sounds good to me."

They ran towards the revolving structure as if they were naughty children, running away from the hands of a scolding adult. _Actually,_ thought Relena ruefully and with some amazement, _that's almost exactly what we're doing_. One quick phone call—not even a report—and he'd shrugged the incident off—albeit hesitantly—and just suggested they stay. That was certainly an improvement. In fact, it was positively… touching.

She chanced a glance at his face as they ran. His face was set—serious. His lips weren't frowning exactly but.. yes. Serious.

She felt her heart skip a beat. He was doing this for _her_. He was trying so hard for _her_ sake.

Well she'd better not make him regret it then!

The line was short, as they'd expected from the look of the sparse crowd, so it didn't take long before they were handing over their tickets and scrambling into one of the carriages.

"You know… I've never been to one of these," Relena remarked in the subsequent silence, broken only by the cheery music outside and the murmur of voices below as they slowly rose higher and higher.

"A carnival?" Heero replied, raising an eyebrow. "I don't believe you."

"No, not a carnival… I mean… this thing. The Ferris Wheel. I guess I mean _on_ one of these, then."

"Why not?" It seemed like a very Relena-like ride… on Earth, you had the impression of being able to touch the sky.

"I don't know… I just… never got around to it." She grinned cheekily at him, "I needed to share some of my firsts with you, after all. You've more than met your quota today already."

"So glad you noticed."

"And…" she hesitated for a moment, looking almost wistful, "How is University life?"

Ah. That was a bit of a sore subject with the princess… occupied with her political achievements as she was, the academic life in a school environment was far in the past. It wasn't hard to see that she wished it were otherwise.

"It… wasn't what I expected." He frowned, unsure of exactly how to phrase his words.

She leaned forward, intrigued. "Go on."

"It's—" He stopped and Relena saw his expression change instantly. The mouth thinned, the eyes hardened, and she froze.

"What is it?" she asked softly, barely moving her lips.

"There's no one else on this ride."

It had taken a little time to notice, since the crowd lining up _had_ been sparse… but there was literally no one else on the ride, except for the two of them.

Relena had just enough time to blink before the shrill shriek of grinding machinery rent the air and shattered the cheery music—the ride wrenched to a stop, leaving the basket swinging jerkily.

"What the hell…?" Heero was on his feet in an instant, down in a low crouch. Relena hunched forward, prudently keeping her head out of sight from the basket's windows.

Heero peered down through the clear dirty plastic that was the basket's window, trying to discern who it was that had trapped them up here.

The shrill shrieking of a loudspeaker microphone squalling to life seemed to respond immediately, as Duo's voice bellowed up at them. "Congratulations my friends… you are now stuck. We will proceed to keep you up there for a grand total of forty-five (45) minutes in which you both are required to make up for lost time."

The two of them swore that if he weren't more than a that of long brown hair on the ground, they'd see him waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Relena's head popped up, and she leaned her head out the center of the basket where there were no windows. Heero was treated once again to the startling realization that Relena Peacecraft Darlian truly had an impressive set of lungs.

"_Duo!_ _When I get my hands on you…!_"

"Have fun, ma'am."

She sat back down with her arms crossed, swearing she could literally _hear_ the cheerful wink he was obviously giving the mic in place of her face.

"'Have fun' indeed…" she muttered. "Now you're just going to start frowning and blaming yourself for not watching out properly and just try harder by staring out the window for the whole time limit, and _never_ try anything on me."

He blinked. "You… actually _wanted_ me to…?" He blinked again, utterly unable to process this. "Who are you, and what have you done with my date?"

He then felt his mouth slam shut, but not fast enough to catch that last word before it was out of his mouth. Date. _Date_. He'd said it. He felt his cheeks burning, and he turned away, hiding his eyes beneath his bangs in attempt to hide it from her. "I mean…" he chanced a glance at her face.

And felt transfixed. He could've sworn she was actually _glowing_, the way she was smiling with utmost delight at him, as if he'd just offered the moon in all its former fantasy glory instead of the hulk of a space station that it was in reality.

"Date… so this is a date…"

"…Yeah." There. He'd said it.

It hadn't been so hard to admit.

It was suddenly that much easier when she leaned forward, took his face between her hands, and kissed him.

He couldn't move for a moment, and sat stunned as she pulled away to take in the look of his face, her lips curling into smile before she was _back_ and her lips were on his again and she wasn't pulling away and…

Hesitantly, he reached for her, running his hands along her bare shoulders, pulling her closer—she was soon curled sideways on his lap without either of them having once broken the kiss. She was soon running her fingertips along the smooth contours of his face and neck, and he was running his fingers through her honey-gold hair. He couldn't hold back a deep-throated groan when she parted her lips, and began sucking delicately on his lower lip, her tongue massaging circles against it.

Then they could both feel a change in the atmosphere. The kisses were faster now, open-mouthed and heated; their tongues tangling together as Heero tilted her back, bracing her with one arm and his body halfway on top of her. Her arms came up, one sliding around to hold onto the back of his neck, her fingers toying with the hairs at his nape while the other slid delicately up beneath the thin material of his shirt, making his breath catch in his throat as she ran her hand up that lightly-muscled torso.

He turned his attention away from her reddened lips, down along the line of her neck; his tongue flicking out to taste her skin, the delicate butterfly kisses he lavished and set his teeth gently into her flesh, which had her mewling quietly into his ear and scrabbling at him, trying to draw him closer.

"—Er… actually!"

The loudspeaker shrilled again, causing them both to jerk apart in surprise as Duo's voice sounded once again, "Actually our deal with the wonderful operator has been cut short because… well… apparently this place doesn't allow public fornication on its equipment. Safety and health hazard issues and all that… So you actually have just… well… not time left at all, actually. Put your clothes back on, you're coming back down."

Relena felt herself flying backwards into the opposite seat as the both of them automatically smoothed down their clothes and Relena swiftly re-tied her hair smoothly, while they endured their faces turning a mutual shade of tomato red, unable to meet each other's eyes.

By the time the machinery shrieked and the ride jerked forward and began moving again, they were both neatly seated on either side of the basket, their hands folded in their respective laps.

"Well…" Relena mumbled, in an attempt to rescue the conversation they'd managed to have before Duo's interference, "That was… um…" _wonderful… perfect… unbelievable… teasing… _ "…nice…" she looked up hesitantly in an attempt to meet his eyes.

And then she blinked.

Surely that wasn't Heero Yuy.

No. It couldn't be.

Heero Yuy did not smile like that. _Grin_ like that. _Broadly_, even!

And then he began to laugh. Hard.

And it wasn't maniacal, or accompanied by large explosions. He was just… laughing!

That was when she felt a smile began to creep onto _her_ face as the hilarity of the situation hit her. Then, inexplicably, a laugh bubbled up in her throat, and she burst out laughing right along with him. Maybe because she had never, not even in her dreams, thought she would wake up this morning and be asked out by the infamous Heero Yuy, then find herself kissing him—in a carnival ride no less!

They barely noticed when the ride came to a complete stop, and the carnival employee hastily unlocked the door to the ride.

Duo and Hilde were standing there, watching as the employee lifted the door, ready to bolt if either Relena or Heero decided that they would attempt to commit homicide and come after them. Neither of them had a death wish, thank you very much.

They were sadly disappointed however, if they had expected to find something suitably embarrassing worth gossiping about, or, in Duo's case, filming. It was a strange picture to see, the former Gundam pilot and the politician laughing till tears came to their eyes, but their was nothing suitably sexual about the two of them to invoke even the slightest of rumors. Disappointing, to say the least after all their planning.

However, Duo, having sharper eyes than Hilde, noticed the blush that still stained Relena's cheeks, and Heero's slightly reddened lips and grinned—widely. Then, grabbing his girlfriend's arm and hauling her away before either of them had a chance to be recognized, dashed off to their 'Headquarters'. By this time, the hot dog vendor was muttering, "Damned kids these days…"

It took a lot of explaining to the carnival manager that they had had absolutely nothing to do with the ride being halted, and in fact they had been the innocent victims of a prank. It helped of course, that Relena was a well-known politician, and Heero had his reputation around L1.

They left that ride, Relena taking her place at Heero's arm, which, surprisingly, already seemed comfortable. He looked down at her, smiled, and then asked, "Anywhere else you want to go?"

She grinned cheekily back at him, "I can only think of one place… do you have any interest in dancing?"

Neither of them took the words at face value.

Heero's mouth slowly curled itself into some semblance of a smile, "Yeah… yeah I would," he told her softly, catching her lips with his in one feather-light kiss before leading her out of the park, towards his car. There was still no sign of either Duo or Hilde around, not even in the rearview mirror when they were on the road again.

Still at 'Headquarters', Duo and Hilde were busy discussing the events that had transpired. "Kinky make out scene. Had to be." Hilde told him confidently.

"_That_ would make the two of them start laughing like there's no tomorrow?"

She shrugged, "They're strange people. I wouldn't know."

"Never knew Yuy had it in him…" he looked downcast. "And we _missed_ it!" he looked down mournfully at his video camera.

"Well… you know, we always have the security tape… it's not that good, but…" she grinned, "I made sure one was installed in the ride just the other day…"

Duo stared at her openmouthed. He then proceeded to go down on his knees and began to worship her. "Hilde, you are amazing… I am not worthy of your love… I worship thee goddess…"

Hilde laughed outright, grabbed him by his hair and hauled him up. "Now, now, a few nicely furnished temples would have been good enough…" she teased.

"Anything, princess…" he picked her up in one quick swoop, and she kissed him while she was still in his arms. They quite nearly forgot about both Heero and Relena.

They'd also forgotten that Heero never did things by half. The security camera, when they went to check it, was dismantled, though when Heero had had the time, was impossible to tell.

*

_February 14 AC 197_

_Dear Diary,_

_It's late at night, I'm on L1, and I'm sitting up in bed in my hotel room. And the most amazing part of this, Diary? Heero Yuy, yes the man who has been my guardian angel for the past few years of my life is right here with me, still sleeping beside me. I've learned a lot about him, Diary… and I have more than a sneaking suspicion that he knows a lot more about my secrets than he lets on. For instance, it just might be coincidence, but Whitefield, (you remember Whitefield don't you Diary? He's the man who tried to attack me in my own house…) went officially missing for about an hour, and then reappeared from nowhere, babbling about never touching Relena again. I saw it on the news—talk about a phone call from a man and a woman who seemed more spider than human coming to call. Strange? Yes. I suspect something, Diary._

_But that doesn't change anything that's happened tonight. I was with Heero, and that was all that mattered to me. He took me to the carnival, and I _loved _it. It was the sweetest thing he could do for me, because it would be something _I _wanted to do, not any other girl. He didn't come piled down with several bouquets of red roses and drag me off to dinner and dancing. He did something new, and I love him for that. I love him, I love him, I love him… and he told me he's staying, Diary. He's staying with me._

_I've always known he'll be there for me when I need him, just like he's always known I'll be there for him when he needs me. But I never, never thought he would actually brave the spotlight to be with me… especially because that is what my life is… permanently in the spotlight. He's willing to do that for me, Diary. And I'm perfectly willing to be content with what he has to give, and nothing more than that. He's not 'Perfect' like everyone else says, and which he just might almost believe himself, but he's _Heero_. And that's enough for me._

_Relena_

~*~*~*~

The End

~*~*~*~

Finally, it ends! I know, I know. I promised that it wouldn't take too long to get this last chapter out… and _then_ look at me go! A month? Two months? I'm sorry, but I got stuck several times in succession with bits in this chapter that I wanted to cut out or change completely—which in turn affected other parts of the chapter, which led me to consider which option would let it look better without having to rewrite the entire thing. I lost a good lot of motivation in between, I'm telling you.

And now… now I don't know. I still have the first chapter of Dorothy's saga in what I'd once wanted to be my _Dear Diary_ series, but I've had it for years now and I don't know if I have it in me to continue it. I'll consider it, at any rate, I suppose! As is… thank you for sticking around so long, thank you for so many hits (see my counter go up after not-checking for a long while is my happy crack—your lovely reviews are just the icing on a very fabulous cake because I love reviews too and it's so nice to be appreciated. And told when I've totally messed up, which I like too because hell, I'm me. I do stuff wrong, and people call me on it. 'Tis the way the world works.


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